


Star Wars: A New Force

by Kitsumeo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Carida, Cathar, Children of Yun Yuuzhan, Corellia, Electrostaff, Gen, Hutts, Jedi, Jedi Training, Kwa, Lightsabers, Loth-Cat, Nagai - Freeform, New Alliance, Rakata Prime, Rancor, Rebellion, Sith, Sith probe droid, Space Battles, Star Destroyer, Stormtrooper, Takodana, The Colonies, The Force, The Order, The Scrounger, Tof, Togruta - Freeform, Toydarian, VCX – 820 escort freighter, Varactyl, World Travel, X-Wing(s), Y-Wing, Yuuzhan Vong - Freeform, chazrach, cruiser, droid, flagship, hyper-drive, outsiders - Freeform, starfighter - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-15 00:11:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8034427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitsumeo/pseuds/Kitsumeo
Summary: A New Force is a story that takes place in the Star Wars universe long after the canon of the series.New heroes will rise and alliances have to be made to make a stand against a long forgotten enemy which has returned after millennia ago to finish what they started.





	1. In a Galaxy far, far away

**Author's Note:**

> Hello reader,
> 
> I would like you to know this is the first time I have written a story in the form of a fanfiction.  
> My only hope is that you will enjoy my take on the Star Wars universe and if you come across any inaccurate elements, (e.g. planet x was blown up but I use the planet as if nothing has happened.) Let me know so I can change it. Since my story takes part after the current canon (Star Wars the force awakens) I try to stay true to how their universe was left behind. Keep in mind this story is still a work in progress so changes can apply if this would make for a better story in the end.
> 
> Have fun reading :)

_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…_

Millennia long wars have been going on, The hundred-year darkness, The clone wars, The galactic civil war, The first order’s rise, all examples of times where sides collided with each other. Each time shifting back and forward in fights with no end. Many lives have been lost during these wars, in the name of freedom, power or simply revenge.

After millennia of wars between the two sides, fighting over worlds, star systems, stars and a better position in their galaxy, everyone had turned blind for what was to come. When the realization came that they were not alone, it was already too late, a far greater threat had come forth from an unknown galaxy far away. This new side has already shown they have no plans for negotiation, for they had attacked with force and precision. This opened the eyes of the Order and the rebellion, making them realize that this new threat was a force to be reckoned with.

Both rebellion and the Order have been taken by surprise and are now forced to work together against this new enemy, one whose powers haven’t been weakened by the most recent wars. In order to survive they have to stand together or the future will turn into something neither side will be a part of. Only if the Rebels and the Order can let go of the past they can exist in the future, but millennia long they have been at war with each other. So this might prove to be the most difficult challenge they have ever faced, one which almost seems impossible to achieve.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Scrounger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Ship makes a forced crash landing on an unknown planet, as the crew starts repairs, a small group sets out to explore this strange planet, only to find themselves in new danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello reader,
> 
> I would like you to know this is the first time I have written a story in the form of a fanfiction.  
> My only hope is that you will enjoy my take on the Star Wars universe and if you come across any inaccurate elements, (e.g. planet x was blown up but I use the planet as if nothing has happened.) Let me know so I can change it. Since my story takes part after the current canon (Star Wars the force awakens) I try to stay true to how their universe was left behind. Keep in mind this story is still a work in progress so changes can apply if this would make for a better story in the end.
> 
> Have fun reading :)

**Chapter 1 - The Scrounger ******

A ship shot out of hyperspace near Rakata Prime, a world whose species had been extinct for a long time. The ship, a modified VCX – 820 escort freighter was now heading to the deserted planet as it’s right engine is on fire.  
“Do you think we will make it to that planet?” Arana Vakrii asked while switching and pressing all sorts of buttons to keep them flying.  
“Well we survived those Starfighters didn’t we?” Garm Gunstar said optimistic while trying his best to keep their ship under control. In the background their droid beeped angrily over the sound of the ship's alarm in disagreement.  
“Looks like scruffy disagrees with you and he isn’t the only one.” Arana said looking at Garm with a raised eyebrow for a moment before a couple of flashy lights drew her attention. As they drew closer to Rakata Prime, the ship started to shake as they started to picked up speed, due to the planet's gravity pulling them in.  
“Seriously what were you thinking!” Zun Annix said frustrated as he stumbled into the bridge.  
“Those Starfighters could’ve blown us to pieces.” He said before he noticed the fast growing planet which they were heading for.  
“Holy star destroyer! You are planning to land us on that planet with one working engine.” Zun said shocked.  
“You better warn your brother and help the others to brace for impact.” Arana replied still flipping switches and adjusting all kinds of ship functions. Zun sprinted back to warn his brother and the others for a possible impact, because when Arana told you to brace for impact it meant serious business.  
“Alright we are entering the atmosphere, are you still with me Vakrii?” Garm teased with a smile since he knew damn well that she had nowhere else to go.  
“Ha ha, very funny.” Arana said a bit annoyed by the fact that Garm was being so down to earth about the situation they were in. They had been in situations far worse but landing on a strange planet with only one engine sure wasn’t something to stay calm about, many things could go wrong. What if the natives aren’t very fond of strangers or maybe the Order or the New Alliance had any troops on the surface waiting for them, no this situation was far from ideal. Arana slapped her cheeks to stay focused, as they got through the planet’s atmosphere, Arana noticed how cloudy this planet was. This was very good since it would conceal them from the sky, if anyone was looking for them, they would be hidden by these thick clouds, but only If they managed to land in one piece that was. Arana wondered what was below all these clouds but the moment they broke through they almost flew into a massive tree.  
“Whoa! Hang on tight.” Garm shouted, dead serious this time, since one wrong move meant the end of them. Arana tightened her seatbelt and looked at the vegetation flying past them, they were still going too fast she noticed.  
“A little help?” Garm gritted between his teeth as he tried to keep the ship under control with all his might. Quickly Arana took the other steering wheel, one which they only used in exceptional circumstances. Together they pulled hard to keep the ship stabilized, but even when they both tried to control the ship, it still decapitated branches and the top of some smaller trees. The ship hardly slowed down and after one of the wings hit one of the bigger trees they started to lose control and eventually spin around. Arana knew there was no way they could regain control so she cut the power of their engine making the ship decent even faster.  
“Why did you?” Garm started but he knew what she was up to, as they sliced and crashed through more and more of the vegetation Arana and Garm waited for the right moment, they had to use the ship's engine to thrust on full power right before they would slam into the ground, only than would they have a chance to avoid ending in a pile rubble. Arana and Garm both had their hand on the ship's engines thruster and as the ship rotated they waited for the right timing.  
“Now!” They both shouted and with a loud rumbling from the ship's engine they slowed down almost entirely and right before they crashed into the ground they steered down, so their engine wouldn’t crash into the ground first. This was the only way to save the engine from breaking, the front of the ship was like a hammer so it could take a hit. The ship crashed into the ground and slid through the ground for several meters before it stopped completely. Arana looked at Garm who looked back and laughed in disbelief that they managed to pull it off. Shortly after the ship had landed Zun came to them again.  
“Seriously I’m not getting paid enough for this.” Zun said complaining before he noticed that the two of them were laughing at each other.  
“You two are enjoying this, unbelievable! Once we get off this planet I want a big bonus and a vacation.” Zun complained shaking his head and walking away from the them.  
“Is everyone still alive?” Arana asked as he walked away but Zun didn’t reply, so she figured everyone was alright. Arana relaxed in her chair, still with a big grin on her face, the truth was she enjoyed these kind of moments, living on the edge and being able to tell the story made her feel somewhat alive. As Arana and Garm released their belts, Scruffy came towards them, beeping very angrily, Scruffy was their droid, a modified Sith Probe Droid to be precise. Who had been found by Arana when she had raided some old temple with Garm when they had just met. Arana joined Garm’s crew in order to support her family, her species, the Togruta, had suffered from the wars. She had begged Garm to give her work so she could help her family, at the time she was only ten when she went with Garm. At first she did it to raise money for her family, but now a decade later, she was a full member of his crew and thought of them as her second family. Garm on the other hand was a Human, forty years old, who had worked his way up from the streets until he was hired to fly a ship. Once Garm was in control he stole the ship and sold it and its cargo on the black market and bought the VCX – 820 escort freighter, which they fly now. After years of modification and recruiting the right people for his ship, he managed to get himself a name, the grave robber, which he didn’t mind one bit. They made a living from robbing graves and raiding old temples, so after some time he had named his ship the Scrounger since they never returned anything they found and only took what they needed. Zun and Jaran Annix, were brothers and also human. They manned the Scroungers turret board guns. They both got scouted by Garm when he found them in a pub looking for work. The brothers had come straight out of the rebellion army, which they left because of an increase in pointless fighting. Garm had promised them that the only fighting they would have to do was to protect the ship and crew on the job and so they joined. The scrounger had two mechanics, a Rodian called Teisheynmuu Chuoq, whom they all called Chuko and an Utai who lost his memory and couldn’t remember his name, so they simply called him Tai. They were both selected for their unique mechanical skills and insight, which at times clashed when they were both set on the same task. The final two members of the ship were quite special since they were animals. The first was a Loth-Cat named Rim, who was found on one of their expeditions to the Outer Rim, where they stumbled upon a group of poachers. They had freed Rim from the poachers and he had felt a great gratitude and stayed on the ship ever since. The last but most recent member was a bit unexpected, during one of their travels they were supposed to deliver a cargo of Varactyl eggs from Utapau to one of the core planets, however before they arrived one of the eggs had hatched. When they presented the eggs and the hatchling the buyer had rejected the hatchling, it had been born too soon and he didn’t have time to take care of the little reptilian. On top of that the hatchling was an albino and those were deemed to be weak and would probably die too soon. Arana had asked Garm to keep her, until they found a place for her, which he agreed on but told Arana not to get attached to it too much, since they would find a place for her as soon as possible. This didn’t quite go as Garm thought it would and the little hatchling, grew closer with Arana and the crew the longer it took to find any buyers and over time Garm had given up and so the hatchling, named Moon became part of their crew. As Arana and Garm walked out of the flight deck into the main hold, Moon jumped from a book shelf onto Arana’s back, which he climbed to sit on her shoulder.  
“Hey there little girl, who let you out of your cage?” Arana asked smiling.  
“Are you alright?” she add a little concerned. Moon however was eager to see her and crawled around her neck into her jacket where she always rested. Arana smiled and took a seat, waiting for the others to arrive. When they were all there, Garm started to discuss about their situation.  
“Alright we have two problems, one is our engine, which needs to be fixed before we can fly again and second, who knows on what planet we have just landed?” Zun stood up and walked to their holotable.  
“My brother said that based on our last input on the hyper drive and the possible planets in the area, it is almost certain we crashed on Rakata Prime.” Zun explained showing their course and the location of the planet. Garm scratched his black beard for a moment before he replied.  
“Alright that leaves us with our first problem.” Garm said looking at Chuko and Tai.  
“We will do our best to get the ship flying again.” Tai said standing up ready to go to work, but Garm stopped him since he needed more information.  
“Hold on a minute, how long do you think it will take before we can fly again?” Garm asked.  
“Probably a few hours, I had a look at the system and some parts have been dislocated which need to be replaced.” Chuko answered before Tai.  
“You two.” Garm pointed at his mechanics.  
“Get us airborne again and no messing around we have no clue if this planet is safe.” Garm pointed out just in time before the two mechanics could start to argue with each other.  
“As for you two” Garm said looking at the two brother.  
“Go take some equipment from the armory we are going out to have a look.” Garm ordered the brothers.  
Zun and Jaran nodded and left for the little armory room to get geared up. Now only Arana was left and Garm turned his attention to her.  
“Arana I want you to get your gear as well and make sure Rim and Moon stay on board, the last thing we want is to run after them, we have got enough trouble as it is already.” Garm said while walking towards the crew Quarters to change his pilot gear. Arana walked towards her room and put Moon on her bed, who was fast asleep. After ten minutes she finally found Rim and put him in the main hold and locked the doors so he couldn’t get out. By the time she got her own gear the others were already waiting for them in the boarding room.  
“Alright listen up, while Chuko and Tai will be repairing the ship's engine, Zun will stay to guard them in case someone or something decides to attack. Jaran, Arana and I will explore this planet for a short while, who knows what information we might find.” Garm explained before Scruffy beeped angrily at him.  
“Yes, you ball of scraps, you can come as well.” He sighed before moving on.  
“We will be gone for a few hours, so try to have it all fixed by the time we return.” He said while opening the door.  
“Alright let’s get this going.” Garm said while stepping outside. Arana and the others followed him outside, they had checked the oxygen levels and it was safe to breath without any protection. Arana was amazed at the vegetation, she had never seen so much green in her whole life. Rakata Prime sure looked like a whole different world, as if civilization never touched it. She waved the others goodbye and followed Garm and Jaran, both equipped with protective gear and multiple blasters. Arana herself had a simple hand blaster and an old electrostaff, which only worked on one side, she used it mainly to keep wild animals at bay. However she had one weapon in particular that was the most powerful of all. During one of their scavenges she had found a lightsaber, Garm had told her many times she would get into trouble if anyone saw it and that she should get rid of it. But Arana knew that she had found something special and said that she wouldn’t part from it and that she would keep it well hidden. She hadn’t used the lightsaber for any fighting, but she did activate it at times in her room to study the tool of which both good and bad was done with, making her wonder if her weapon had actually killed someone.  
It was a green of color, which she knew was used by Jedi mostly. She had always admired the Jedi who stood for good and used their weapons to protect the innocence, rather than for power. Arana wished that if she ever had to use her saber it was for the same reasons, to protect people and life she cared about. After half an hour of walking the Rakata jungle began to feel very suffocating, the heat, was making her sweat so much that she almost felt like a waterfall. Jaran had searched more information about the planet on his holopad and had found out that the Rakata Prime was home to an ancient race the Rakata. They were a humanoid species with amphibian features and were supposed to be a very technological advanced race, but all they came across was vegetation.  
“Are we sure this is Rakata Prime?” Arana asked walking next to Jaran as they followed Garm who was cutting vines and branches in front of them to clear a path.  
“I’m a hundred percent certain, I trust on my data.” Jaran replied while scanning the area for any signs of technology. Arana brushed some sweat from her head and looked around.  
“If they were so highly advanced how come we haven’t found anything yet?” Arana asked somewhat puzzled why they didn’t come across any signs of technology.  
“Well the Rakata have been extinct from their own planet and as far as the data shows no one else has taken residue on this planet.” Jaran explained before Garm silenced them both.  
“We are not alone.” Garm said pressing his finger against his lip as a sign to be quiet, while taking one of his blasters out of his blaster holder. Jaran put his scanner away and took his blaster from his back and Arana took her blaster out as well. The three of them and Scruffy didn’t make any sound and as they listened they could hear branches snap close by. Arana tried to pinpoint the sound but it appeared to be coming from around them.  
_Could it be that someone was on this planet after all? Natives? The Order? Or had those Starfighter pilots found them? ___Arana’s thoughts went back and forward trying to figure out what or who were out there. She looked at Garm who was weighing their options.  
“Reveal yourself or we will open fire.” Garm said out loud trying to draw whoever was hiding out, so they could see who are what they were up against. Arana was preparing herself to dodge and so was Jaran. A sudden silence fell after Garm had spoken, followed closely with a loud roar. Arana was surprised since she hadn’t thought of any animals but she didn’t have long to think about it when a large beast rushed through the cover of the jungle towards them. Garm had taken his second blaster out and started blasting at the creature, which seemed to have little effect on it. Just before the beast hit him Jaran had pushed him aside. They both got up to their feet quickly and watched the beast turn around for a second charge.  
“What is that thing!” Arana shouted still firing on the creature.  
“It looks like a Rancor, which means blasters won’t work on it as it’s hide is too thick.” Garm replied while thinking of a solution. Arana stashed her blaster and quickly took her electrostaff out, a weapon she had used against many wild animals to keep them at bay, hopefully it worked on this rancor as well. The rancor was about to charge again when Arana stabbed it with the electrostaff, the beast cried out in anger, it sure didn’t like the shock and was clearly thinking what sort of situation it had gotten into. Garm and Jaran had come up next to Arana and kept their blasters at ready, the hide might be resistant but the rancor’s eyes were certainly not. Suddenly Scruffy started beeping intensely and when Arana looked she noticed a second rancor had come out of its hiding behind them. The situation had now changed drastically, since they only had one electrostaff and it was impossible to protect themselves against two of these beasts. Garm quickly reached in his pocket and took some smoke bombs out, which he threw on the ground, as they exploded a cover of smoke appeared and they ran away from the rancor before they noticed their prey had outsmarted them. They ran through the jungle away from the two predators, only to run into another, this one a lot smaller than the other two. Arana stabbed her electrostaff into the rancors belly, making it cry out loud in pain. They passed the creature and kept running away. From behind them they heard the terrifying roar of multiple rancors in the distance.  
“Do you think we can shake them off?” Arana asked following Garm and Jaran who ran in front of her.  
“This is their world, I don’t think they appreciate any strangers and besides they are excellent predators so we have to keep running or they will catch us.” Garm replied cutting some vines in front of them.  
“How many are there you think? I mean large predators usually don’t live in large pacts.” Arana asked trying to figure out if there would be more of them around.  
“Probably not, but these are not the usual Rancor I know off, so we have to stay alert.” Garm pointed out, but as he did another Rancor jumped out of his hiding and dove right onto him. Garm grunted as he got knocked down by the brute force the rancor used to take down his prey. Luckily for him Arana was quick and smashed the electrostaff into the beast's eye socket, making the big creature shriek In pain. The rancor instantly lost consciousness and dropped to the ground, just before he would fall on Garm he rolled away so he wouldn’t get trapped underneath the massive beast.  
“That was a close call!” Jaran said helping Garm up to his feet, Garm looked at Arana and gave her a grateful look before continuing to lead the way. All around them the jungle was coming alive, the rancor’s loud shriek, set a terrifying chain of rancor’s hidden in the jungle to roars, making every animal or creature cry out in terror. Arana felt as if her heart stopped for a moment, paralyzed by the sounds of fear, unable to move. With big eyes she stared around her, frozen in place, when suddenly someone took her by the arm and forced her to move. Dragged along Arana started to get to her senses and heard Garm talk to her.  
“Hey kiddo, pay attention we have to get out of here now! So get your legs moving!” Garm shouted as he dragged her with him. When Garm noticed Arana wasn’t being dragged anymore he let her go and she ran by herself again. As they ran, she felt a chill down her spine when all the noise started to fade away around them, this only meant one thing, they were surrounded by predators. In front of them one of the bushes moved and a rancor jumped out of it, only to meet a small bomb which was thrown by Garm, who was clearly prepared. However as he threw it he had stopped moving to give it extra speed from his body movement. The bomb hit the rancor on the chest knocking it back, the charges weren’t lethal for the massive beasts but they sure packed a punch.  
“This way!” Jaran shouted leading them into a different direction, this clearly was a move their predators didn’t expect and so they roared in anger when they noticed their little plan had failed. Arana hardly had any breath remaining, they had traveled for a while and the tropical environment was draining them from their energy.  
Suddenly Jaran stopped and Arana bumped into him falling backward on the ground. Garm helped her up to her feet.  
“You ok kiddo.” He asked a bit distracted.  
“I’m fine, nothing serious.” Arana said leaning on her electrostaff, taking a few deep breaths, she wiped the sweat from her forehand and looked to see why they had stopped. A colossal rancor stood in front of them, probably twice the size of the ones they had encountered.  
“Sweet mother of…” Garm cursed when he saw the beast. They wanted to turn around but the other rancor had caught up with them. This time they were surrounded so escaping was no option.  
“What do we do now?” Arana asked holding her electro staff with two hands, pointed at the rancor at the back. Garm opened his coat and drew both his blasters and held them up.  
“Now we try to give them hell, or die trying” He said followed by a deep breath. Jaran had drawn his blaster as well and was aiming at the big rancor’s eyes and even Scruffy had drawn his little shocker stick, ready to protect them. The monstrous beast roared, making the other rancor back away. Arana looked over her shoulder and watched the colossal giant pick up speed, it’s claws alone were like build in spears and his teeth like razor sharp blades. How could they face off against such an enormous creature, their blasters couldn’t harm it and the electrostaff hardly had any effect on the smaller ones, so what good would it do on one twice the size. Suddenly Arana was drawn to her lightsaber and before she knew it she stood in front of Jaran and she felt her face covered with something warm and liquid. When she realized what had happened the giant rancor was shrieking in pain, Arana had sliced one of its hands clean off.  
The rancor screeched in agony and roared at Arana and the others. Jaran was stunned by the moment but quickly snapped out of it when Garm opened fire on some of the surrounding rancor’s.  
“Take them by surprise!” Garm shouted firing his blasters on the creatures. Jaran followed his example and started firing. The rancor roared, some in anger but most in confusion, since they had no idea what just happened. The giant, now one handed rancor, roared at his smaller kind and they started to attack. Some of them had fled when they noticed that the giant rancor had cried out in pain and when Garm shot one in his eye socket, killing it on the spot. Their numbers were still significant and Arana and the others were still outnumbered by a lot, but they weren’t going to lose, not today. Arana noticed one of the smaller rancor charging in on her and with a swipe from below she sliced the beasts guts and head in two. She then stabbed one of the other rancor who had leaped at Jaran with her electrostaff, giving it a big shock, stunning it long enough to cut its arm off and sending the creature running back into the jungle. Garm had used some more bombs and had managed to blow a hole into one of the charging rancor while evading one that tried to attack his flank. Once the rancor noticed that the lightsaber was lethal they slowly backed off, until only a few remained. Arana had never felt so powerful before, was this the power the Jedi had for all those years? She thought, losing her focus for a moment. This was enough for the colossal rancor to leap at her, when he struck the ground the three of them lost their balance for a second and just in time Arana managed to raise her electrostaff to block the beasts slash from his remaining claw, the sheer force of the slash made her drop the electrostaff several meters away. When the creature slashed again Arana dodged it and rolled to the creatures clawless side and stabbed it with her lightsaber. The massive beast grunted and with a vile look it glared down on Arana, who had felt powerful a moment ago, but now started to feel a little fear. As Arana pulled the lightsaber back the rancor turned around smashing its tail into Arana making her fly for a couple of meters falling on her belly. When Arana turned around she saw the massive hand come down and rolled away, barely avoiding the rancor claw that smashed into the ground where she lay second ago. Scruffy had come to help her and sprayed an electric spark at the beast face, distracting it for a second, just long enough for Arana to get back to her feet. Arana looked at Garm and Jaran who were fighting only a few rancor now, she noticed Jaran had found her electrostaff and used it against the predators to keep them at bay. The big rancor roared at her in anger and Arana screamed back at it. “I’m not afraid of you, you ugly beast!” She raising her lightsaber with two hands in front of her and took a stance, ready to meet her opponent. The massive beast roared and charged at her, Arana took a deep breath and just as the creature slashed she dodged towards the rancor and put her lightsaber into the beast's belly. The rancor enraged and smashed the ground with such a force that it cracked and before she knew a loud rumbling started and the ground crumble beneath them. Just a moment before it cracked, she caught a last glimpse of Garm who watched her disappear into the ground. The last thing Arana saw was a darkness that swallowed her down, together with the giant rancor which she was still attached to with her lightsaber.  



	3. Chapter 2 - Savanna Squadron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Savanna Squadron comes across an unknown ship in the Western Reaches.  
> When they discover something is wrong it is already too late and they find themselves in trouble

**Chapter 2 - Savanna Squadron ******

“United alliance this is Savanna squadron reporting in, we have discovered an unidentified ship in the Western Reaches, I ask permission to identify the ship.” A male Cathar reported over the comlink in his helmet to his superior. The Cathar, Rysorr Si, waited for his superior to give him permission to check out the unidentified ship, he and his squadron flew in their x-wing Starfighters patrolling the Western Reaches. Rysorr was the leader of Savanna squad, which included two females from his own race, Nomyri Ja and Cylyxi Nhul, a Mirialan girl named Fokii and a Human teenager Jokin Antran. The rebels had discovered Rysorr when he attempted to free Nomyri and Cylyxi from a slaver and was caught by the slave masters henchmen. The rebels had helped them escape and offered to help them back to their planet but on their way to Cathar they were attacked by the Order and the three of them had offered to help fighting. Ever since they had stated with the rebels, fighting off slavery and stopping the order. After a few years they had proved to be worthy adversaries and were offered to pilot the x-wing Starfighters. At first they were just the three of them and so together they formed the Savanna squadron, but later they were introduced to some new members as new protocol wanted five x-wings in a squadron, due to their new enemy. Over time they had met and lost many x-wing pilots during fights until Fokii and Jokin joined them, who both were extraordinary pilots despite their age.  
“Savanna squadron, this is Commander Kara Rieekan speaking, you have my permission to identify the ship, report back to me once you know more, over and out.” The commander replied. Rysorr flipped a switch to activate the ships fighting mode, the x-wing Starfighter opened its wings and was ready to go.  
“Alright Savanna squadron we are to engage the target, prepare your weapons and stay in formation.” Rysorr ordered to his squadron. The others came in position and Rysorr looked at his left and right to see Nomyri and Cylyxi close his flanks, he checked his radar and both Fokii and Jokin closed their back and together they flew towards the unidentified ship. As they drew closer Rysorr noticed the ships model was an old one, a VCX – 820 escort freighter, at least that was what their scanners picked up.  
“Savanna one, the unidentified ship appears to be a VCX – 820 escort freighter, these type of ships were most commonly used by smugglers in the old days” Nomyri reported to their wing leader.  
“Wait aren’t those VCX like ancient or something?” Jokin asked laughing since he couldn’t imagine anyone flying such piece of scrap.  
“There are very few of them still operational and in most cases they are used to smuggle weapons or slaves across the galaxy.” Nomyri added trying to state all the information she knew about these kind of ships. As they drew closer Jokin kept going on and on about how that ship belonged at a junkyard and that a good smuggler would use a faster and better ship.  
“Savanna four please shut your mouth, we are on a mission.” Rysorr cut in, since Jokin,  
“Sorry, Savanna one, I got carried away, Savanna four out.” Jokin replied stopping his rambling. No matter how good Jokin was, he always kept going on about a subject too far. Rysorr usually let him ramble for a while especially if the mission wasn’t too serious like this. It shouldn’t cause them any trouble, especially if it were smugglers they wouldn’t dare to attack five x-wings Starfighters since that would mean a fight they were bound to lose. But for some reason Rysorr felt that this VCX -820 was a different story and he took a deep breath to stay focused. They were almost within the standard communication range, Rysorr was planning to call the ship and ask for their ID and cargo information. If refused or they transported anything illegal they would have to come with them or they would have to use force.  
“Savanna two here, my scanner picks up unusual weaponry, it seems that this VCX is modified with non-standard weapons, I suggest we stay cautious as we approach them for contact.” Cylyxi reported in, warning her team.  
“Roger that Savanna two” Rysorr said to confirm that he received the information. As they got within range he checked his readings quickly to see if any weapons were being activated but they didn’t, so he tried to call them on.  
“VCX - 820, service number one, five, six, nine, seven, zero, this is Savanna squadron from the New Alliance speaking, we would like to receive your data and would like to scan your ship, be warned if you decline or refuse to cooperate you are forced to come with us and if you use force, know that we are armed and ready to use offensive measures.” Rysorr explained to the VCX-820, just as protocol would want them to. His squadron stayed in position keeping a safe distance in case the VCX would refuse their request but in all surprise a comlink was opened up to them.  
“Greetings Savanna, we heard your request and are preparing a data transfer, you should receive it in a moment.” A young female voice replied.  
“VCX- 820, how about that scan, do we have permission to scan your ship while we wait for your data?” Rysorr asked trying to find out if this ship was worth their time.  
“You are free to scan our ship, we have nothing to hide.” The young female replied. With those words Savanna squadron came within scanning range. They received the data as promised so Rysorr gave the order for Nomyri and Cylyxi to scan the ship. Fokii and Jokin flew from their position next to Rysorr to keep their formation, while the other two were busy scanning the ship.  
“Well that was easy.” Jokin said to the others while they waited.  
“Stay alert we aren’t done yet.” Fokii replied while reading through the VCX ships data. Fokii didn’t find anything in particular until she noticed that the weapons on their readings didn’t match the data.  
“Savanna five here, there is something wrong with the data, the data shows weapons which are different from what our scanners picked up.” Fokii reported to her team.  
“VCX - 820 we received your data but we discovered that you use other weapons than what is stated in your ships data, care to explain?” Rysorr asked trying to figure out what the idea behind it was, it wasn’t uncommon that weapons were replaced and not updated on the data list but just to make sure they weren’t up to anything illegal.  
“Oh I’m so sorry we recently had some repairs to our ship, we replaced the weapons since they were cheaper, but because we had a delivery to make we left in a hurry and forgot to update our data. The weapons share the same function like the ones in the data, they are just from a different brand.” The young female replied explaining their choice. Rysorr thought for a moment, it was exactly as he predicted, they had simply changed the weapons and forgot to update the data, at least that was what they wanted them to believe, it was strange that such a young girl answered them and not their captain. He felt it in his guts that something was wrong with this ship.  
“Savanna Two, Savanna three, what is the status of that scan.” Rysorr asked trying to find a clue why his gut was keeping him so wary of this ship.  
“Savanna two here, I finished scanning my side, I didn’t detect much in the cargo hold and it appears they only have four life forms on board, two on the bridge and two in the main hold.” Cylyxi reported.  
“Savanna Five again sorry to interrupt but I discovered this ship is named the Scrounger, which once I inserted it in our database appears to be wanted for grave robbing.” Fokii informed sending the data to Rysorr. He quickly read into the information and with a shock he looked up.  
“Everyone in defensive position,, Savanna two, three fall back immediately!” Rysorr ordered to his squadron.  
“Wait didn’t you say they had four life forms? I detect a fifth, wait a sixth, of no!” Nomyri said before pulling hard to the side just in time to avoid the Scroungers laser cannons.  
“Defensive positions! Return fire where needed.” Rysorr ordered while shooting his x-wing lasers at the Scrounger. They had tried to trick them and for some reason they had managed to figure out that their illusion had failed before Savanna squadron could take measures, whoever was flying that ship, he sure damn well knew what he was doing. When Savanna two and three safely escaped the sudden attack they came back in formation with the others and now it was time for them to push their attack.  
“Attack formation, focus fire on the Laser cannons.” Rysorr said leading the way.  
“Now this is more like it!” Jokin shouted over their comlinks as he was ready for some action. They all fired their lasers at the Scroungers side cannons but with no results.  
“They have some sort of protective shield around their ship, our lasers won’t do any damage unless we take out their shield generator.” Fokii reported to her squad.  
“Damn those grave robbers, they are more resourceful than I thought!” Rysorr growled in anger.  
“Evasive formation and get me a soft spot as soon as possible.” He added while evading some of the incoming laser fire. Rysorr sure didn’t expect to encounter a wanted ship on their patrol and taking it in would serve more of a challenge than he had hoped in the beginning when they thought it they were just mere smugglers.  
“Savanna One I found their shield generator, it should be right above their right engine.” Fokii informed after having studied the Scroungers data, even if the data was falsified moving a shield generator would seem illogical as the engine room couldn’t be in a different place. Savanna squadron prepared for a new attack, this time with the right engine as target.  
“Prepare your missiles, fire at my signal.” Rysorr said waiting for the others to line up in formation.  
“Savanna Two, ready.” Cylyxi reported closely followed by Nomyri and Fokii.  
“Savanna Four ready to blast!” Jokin reported last, a bit too eager to fire his missiles.  
“3..2..1..Fire!: Rysorr ordered and the missiles flew to their target. The missiles flew with incredible speed and the two gunners were firing at them to stop them. They managed to hit one and another one, but the first missile reached the shield and blew itself up on impact, the last two missiles hit the shield as well creating a hole, which was about to close again but Savanna squadron had fired an extra pair of missiles and while the gunners took some out again two missiles hit the right engine.  
“Two missiles got a direct hit, the shield is going down, I repeat the shield is going down.” Fokii reported.  
“Alright now let’s get those cannons.” Rysorr said ready to give the order when suddenly his x-wings power started to flicker. Rysorr switched some buttons and tried to figure out what was wrong when he noticed that his controls weren’t working anymore.  
“This is Savanna one I seem to be having technical difficulties, Savanna two you take over command and take those cannons out.” Rysorr started before Cylyxi interrupted him.  
“Savanna two here, negative, I lost control over my x-wing, maybe the others can take over.”  
“Savanna Five here, it seems like they have infected our systems with that data they send about their ship, we are all out of the routine, Five out.” Fokii reported back and almost immediately she heard Rysorr roar in anger and slamming onto his control panel. Savanna squadron had been taken out and all they could do was watch the Scrounger jump into hyperspace, away from them. They had some impressive technical engineer if he was able to shut down five ships at once with just some data. However they might have gotten away, but that jump to hyperspace would certainly put a lot of pressure on their ship with only one working engine, they sure would have a hard time if they jumped out of hyperspace, if they didn’t collapse during the jump that was.

It had taken a couple of hours before a cruiser was able to pick the Savanna Squadron from space and when they were finally there Rysorr had been summoned to the commander to explain how this happened. Meanwhile the remaining members of the Savanna squad were free to roam around.  
Each were given a cabin so they could rest until their ships were fixed again, however this proved to be more difficult as the virus was active and spreading to any technology that docked into the system. They discovered this when two droids shut down once they had docked into the system, only by hand were the mechanics allowed to fix the ships. They had to take out the whole system and install a new one, as well as preserve the virus infected machines for further investigation. If this was a new form of weapon they had to figure out how it worked and how they could use it or protect themselves from it. Fokii entered Jokin’s cabin and kicked against his bed to wake him up. Jokin yawned and crawled out of the bed, stretched and yawned again.  
“Any news from the big guy?” He asked curious while finishing his stretch.  
“No word yet, but Nomyri and Cylyxi are going to grab a bite and asked if we wanted to join them” Fokii explained walking back to the door.  
“Sounds like a plan, I couldn’t really sleep anyway, I keep thinking about how that ship might have had some super secret weapon on it and got away with it.” Jokin said frustrated when he thought back about it.  
“Well just leave it to Rysorr, I’m sure he is busy coming up with a plan with the commander to pin point their ship.” Fokii replied gesturing him to get moving. Once they reached one of the cafeteria on the ship they were served the same old plain space food like always when in space, disgusting drinking boxes Jokin used to call them. As they placed their order a droid served it to them.  
“Enjoy your meal.” The droid beeped at them, although Jokin knew he wasn’t going to enjoy this one bit. Shortly after they received their order they founds the remaining two members of Savanna squad sitting in a corner. Fokii and Jokin moved towards their friends when they picked up some other soldiers conversation.  
“Did you hear about that Savanna squadron?” One of the soldiers said.  
“No what about them?” the other soldier asked curious.  
“I heard they screwed up a simple patrol mission, they break all of their ships and had to call for a pick up!” The first soldier said laughing.  
“No way, how did they even manage to do that?” The second soldier asked surprised.  
“I don’t know, but I heard half of them are Cathar, proves that they aren’t any good, maybe we should send them back to the slavers.” The first soldier boasted laughing out loud. Jokin got extremely angry at this and wanted to teach them a lesson but Fokii stopped him.  
“They are not worth a fight.” Fokii said looking Jokin in the eyes. Jokin sighed, still angry but he knew she was probably right so he left it and joined his friend in the corner.  
“Hey you two sure took your time.” Nomyri said smiling, happy to see her friends.  
“Yhea I had to drag him out of his bed.” Fokii said joking, poking Jokin in his side. They all laughed, but Jokin made a fake smile as he kept thinking about what those soldiers were saying. He knew his team was the best there possibly was and if it wasn’t for that stupid ship they wouldn’t have had any issues at all. The New Alliance had people both from the Rebellion and the Order but apart from fighting against this new threat they kept having small conflicts among each other. The four of them talked about what their next mission could be, Cylyxi offered to get them something to drink, since it tasted better than the food so she went to the cafeteria to get a tray of drinks. On her way back Jokin watched it all happen, one of the soldiers tripped her on purpose and made her spill the drinks over the floor and than claimed she spilled it over his boots.  
“You are going to pay for this!” The soldier said with an angry voice.  
“I’m sorry I tripped over something.” Cylyxi said apologizing. As she picked up the mugs from the floor.  
“Why don’t you come by my cabin later to pay your depth like your species did as the slaves they were.” The soldier said laughing before he got knocked off his feet into some tables where some other soldiers were eating. Jokin had unleashed his anger and was punishing the soldier with his fists.  
“You take that back and apologies to my friend, you piece of scum!” Jokin shouted trying to land another punch in his face. Unfortunately the other soldier had taken hold of him and dragged him back so his friend could get up. The other soldiers at that table were angry because of their spilled food and as they helped the other soldier up to his feet he found the chance to punch Jokin in his stomach as a little payback. Fokii and Nomyri had come to help but a load roar stopped them all.  
“Enough, there will be no fighting among ourselves, if you want to fight so badly leave that for the true enemy out there.” Rysorr said with a powerful voice. The whole cafeteria looked at them and as he drew closer the two soldiers whose food had been knocked over left, leaving the two who started the fight on their own.  
“Who do you think you are fuzzball, your member over there owns me a new pair of boots and this dog of yours needs to be put on a leash.” The soldier said cocky, which was the last thing he said before Rysorr gave him a punch in the face followed by a head butt knocking him unconscious. The soldier who was holding Jokin let him go and raised his hands as a sign that he didn’t want to fight.  
“Squadron time to go.” Rysorr said with a strict voice as he stepped over the unconscious soldier and left for the door. His team followed him. The last thing Jokin saw was that the second soldier was trying to wake his friend up before they walked out of the cafeteria towards their new mission.


	4. Chapter 3 - Unwelcome guest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arana Vakrii wakes up after her fall, deep underground. When she tries to find a way back she discovers something unusual.

**Chapter 3 - Unwelcome guest**

Arana slowly regained her consciousness, “ugh” a painful grunt escaped her mouth.  
_What happened? Where am I?_ Were the first thoughts that crossed her mind. She felt as if she was hit by a star cruiser. Slowly she tried to open her eyes but she couldn’t see, everything was dark and cold. Carefully she pushed herself to her side, her whole body was aching, she rolled on her back and tried to breath for a moment, it hurt. Arana took a deep breath and forced herself to sit up right, which she managed to do after a lot of grunting because of the pain. She felt her stomach which seemed to be alright, next she reached for her chest, her throat and eventually moved to her face. She carefully touched her chin, her cheeks, her nose and eventually her eyes, she brought her other hand to her face as well and touched it, she could feel her eyes and she knew she blinked, so why wasn’t she able to see anything. Did she go blind? Was what went through Arana’s mind for a moment, but she didn’t believe so or she would remember. Did she? Carefully Arana looked around trying to see anything but she couldn’t so she thought of something else.  
_Alright lets see if I can stand up._ Arana thought to herself. She bend over and pushed herself up with her arms, with a lot of strength she managed to stand up but when she tried to walk the ground she stood on collapsed and she fell forwards and rolled over the edge. Arana wanted to scream but she didn’t have the chance because she hit the ground almost face first. Arana cried out loud, it hurt a lot and luckily she landed on her shoulder first or she might had broken her neck. Tired and in pain Arana tried to get up one final time, with tears in her eyes she moved her arm in front of her so she could push herself up when suddenly her hand brushed against something smooth. Her heart skipped for a moment but she somehow recognized the smooth object, carefully she reached for it with her hand and when her hand was entirely on it she grabbed hold of it. A small burst of hope warmed her heart when she realized she had found her lightsaber, she smiled and cried a little at the same time, feeling relieved she had found something she knew belonged to her. With the lightsaber Arana found the strength to crawl up on her knees and arm, once she managed she sat back on her knees and pushed the lightsaber against her chest. She shivered for a moment. Would she dare activate her lightsaber to find out if she had become blind or not. Arana took a few deep breaths and breathed out for a couple of times before she slid her finger to the lightsaber switch. Her fingers were on the switch and with a last breath she flipped it on. In front of her eyes the green light was a sight to never forget, the lightsaber lit up a small part of the area and Arana shed tears of joy, knowing she hadn’t gone blind. Arana moved the lightsaber down so she could see her body, no serious injuries which she could see, so apart from her entire body feeling bruised she was alright. Arana tried to turn around but her body hurt too much when she tried, so she was forced to stand up and look around for clues about what had happened to her. A bit shaky she managed to get on on foot and slowly she pushed herself to stand up, almost falling over a few times but in the end she stood on her feet, shaking like a string of grass in the wind, but she stood on her feet! Arana looked in the distance but it was pitch black, slowly with small steps she turned around to look where she had fallen down from and noticed a weird looking rock. As she drew closer she noticed it was no rock but a creature as she saw scales, Arana carefully walked around and noticed its head and suddenly she remembered the rancor attacks, she focused hard looked up. She had been fighting with this rancor, when suddenly the ground collapsed under their feet, taking them both down. Arana thought about Garm and Jaran who were still fighting when she fell and wondered if they were alright. She had a comlink so she could contact the others to let them know she was alright, the only problem was that she kind of lost her comlink. With a deep sigh Arana searched around the area where she and the rancor had fallen but with no results. If she was underground there might also be a way up, however if she ended up walking in the wrong direction she might get lost forever. Arana found a rock and sat down for a moment to think what her next move would be. She didn’t have a lot of ideas but she figured that finding some sort of cave edge would be her first step, since walking around with nothing around you felt terrifying. When Arana had found the cave wall she followed it until she reached the smooth wall of a building, stunned for a moment she looked at the wall and around to see if there was any sign of life, she even called out but once she received no response she figured it was time to move on. With her lightsaber she carved an A with a V through it into the wall followed with an arrow pointing into the direction she went, this way she could remember where she came from and if Garm or any of the Scrounger crew members came across it they knew she was here and what direction she went. Slowly Arana moved along the wall, which seemed to be never ending, until she came across what seemed to be a door. After a closer look she noticed a control panel, which made her wonder if the Rakata actually lived underground, it sure would make more sense why they didn’t come across any technology. The control panel, how advanced it might have been in their old days, now seemed rather outdated, however the door still faced to be a challenge. Apart from an ancient language on the control pads, Arana still had the problem of having no power to even try the controls, leaving her with not much of a choice than to use her lightsaber to cut the door open. Carefully Arana pushed the lightsaber against the door and slowly it sank into the doors, melting right through the material creating a hole into it. It took a very long time to cut the door and once it was cut she had to pry it open wide enough for her to pass through it. Tired in body and spirit Arana forced herself to give it her everything to open the door, which was no easy feat as it could be compared to pushing a giant bolder up a hill. In the end Arana had decided to cut the door and made a hole large enough for her to pass through, once she was on the other side she took a moment to rest. When she had regained some of her strength Arana continued her way further inside. There was no sign of caving left once she had gone through the door, everything was build in the ancient Rakata style, at least she thought it was a Rakata style, she had never actually seen or heard from the Rakata Prime let stand knew the Rakata existed. As she moved through a long hall way her foot stepped on something which she felt disappear into the ground. Arana’s heart beat in her throat for a moment when she realized she triggered something she probably shouldn’t have. It was a total surprise for her when suddenly everything got lit up and she was able to see without the light of her lightsaber. While being amazed by the fact there was still some form of power after thousands of years, her amazement was for a short while when she heard engine’s power up followed by a defense mechanism that activated by itself. Small turrets appeared out of the ceiling and locked their little barrels on her and before she knew they fired at her like a small army. Just in time Arana managed to dodge behind some weird looking statue, probably something that resembled a Rakata or at least was resembling before the turrets blasted it to pieces. They fired pretty fast for ancient old weaponry, whoever made these sure knew how to build his things. Arana tried to look around the statue but almost got hit by a laser, she was stuck behind this statue and the bad part was the statue was decreasing in size so fast that she didn’t have much time to think about her next step. As the edges grew closer and the lasers almost hit her, Arana did something she never expected herself to do. She rolled away from the statue to the center of the hall way and started to reflect the lasers with her lightsaber. In stories she heard that Jedi used this trick but in reality it was a lot harder. Some of the lasers cut the edge of her skin but she managed to evade and reflect the lethal ones, which was all that mattered in order to survive. Turret after turrets she managed to take down, slow and steady were the key of coming through it alive. Once she passed the lasers a line of small droids awaited her.  
_Oh you got to be kidding me!_ Arana thought to herself but she knew there was no turning back now, she had to push forward and find what was at the end of it all. After beating all the droids Arana sat down against one of the statues, resting her aching body and her drained mind. A new door was at the end of all the fighting and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to face what lay behind it. Suddenly she heard the sound of something heading her way echo through the hallway. Arana crawled behind the statue to hide from sight. She couldn’t possible fight much longer she needed more time to recover but now something came from the way she had come.  
_Was this a trap? Have I been too reckless by trying to move forward that I forgot my only escape route?_ Arana thought breathing heavily, waiting for the moment she would get discovered. The sound grew louder and she knew there was no other way than to face it on her terms. As long as possible Arana waited and when she felt like she would be discovered any second she used all her strength to get up to her feet and attack right away.  
“Raarghhhh” Arana shouted coming out of her hiding running up to the thing that was several feet away. With her lightsaber raised above her head with both hands she leaped forward ready to strike, when she heard a familiar panic beeps she broke off her attack just in time before slicing through her target.  
"Scruffy!" Arana said when her Sith probe droid had found her! She sighed with relief she didn’t cut her little friend in two. Scruffy still a little startled from the encounter beeped that he was happy to see her alive. Arana deactivated the lightsaber for the first time since she activated it and hugged her little friend.  
“What are you doing here!” Arana asked confused after releasing Scruffy from a long hug.  
“How did you find me?” Arana asked curious. Scruffy beeped and biped to her explaining how he got here.  
“Oh so Garm send you to look for me and you found my marks on the walls and followed the trail.” Arana said summing it all up. With some confirming beeps Scruffy confirmed.  
“So what about Garm and Jaran? Are they coming as well?” Arana asked hopeful. Scruffy beeped very slow, meaning they weren’t with him.  
“But if they are not here? Where are they? Are they still fighting the Rancor’s? Are they alright.” Arana asked having so many questions. Scruffy flew up and projected a hologram on the floor. Arana sat down and watched a message left by Garm.  
“Arana I know you are still alive, you are the thoroughest kid I know, well young woman that is actually, anyway I send Scruffy to find you and stay with you in case you needed help..” Garm said while shooting in the distance. “Scruffy tell her we are heading back to the Scrounger and will come looking for her once we have the right equipment to come down and have proper tools to deal with these damned rancor!” Garm said blasting one of the rancor through his eye socked after it was stunned by Jaran with the electrostaff. “Now go find her!” was the last thing Garm said before he tossed Scruffy down the hole and ran away with Jaran who was shouting they had to leave. After the message he beeped and played her a voice message.  
“Well done Scruffy, that mark was left by Arana, a sign that she is as resourceful as ever. Jaran has been bitten by something and is unable to walk on his own, I’m helping him move but those damn rancor are starting to catch up. We are almost at the Scrounger as I can hear gunfire from our cannons, Guess we crashed on the wrong planet after all, damned jungle! Report back to me when you found Arana we will try to reach the Scrounger and will let you know once we are heading your way, Garm out.” The message said hat they would report back but they hadn’t so Arana assumed they weren’t able to get away yet, but they almost made it back to the Scrounger with their last message so Arana was certain they did make it back. All she had to do now was send them a message that she was ok and they could sort out later how to get back to them. After Arana recorded a message she asked Scruffy to send it to Garm and the others, Scruffy popped his little antenna and tried to send it. Suddenly scruffy beeped in confusion.  
“What is it? Did you send the message?” Arana asked trying to figure out what Scruffy was saying, who replied with his usual beeping.  
“Wait what you can’t connect to their data?” She asked shocked looking at Scruffy and than around her. They were inside this facility filled with traps, so the chances were any form of communication was blocked off. Arana put an arm against her belly and leaned her elbow in her hand while putting the knuckles from her other hand against her head in an attempt to calm down and come up with a plan. Softly her knuckle tabbed against her forehead while she was thinking. They could go all the way back into the cave but that would cost a lot of time, if she could disable the communication block they wouldn’t need to go all the way back. The only problem was that if she didn’t want to move back she had to move forward, which meant opening the door. Arana put her hands in her side and sighed before getting up to her feet.  
“Alright I’m going to open that door, stay with me Scruffy because I have no idea what will be waiting for us on the other side.” Arana said moving in front of the door. Scruffy floated next to her and gave a single beep. With a last deep breath Arana started to push the door open, slowly it slid open until it was wide enough for her and Scruffy to enter. They entered a room filled with technology from decades ago, parts of droids, weapons and what not were hanging and laying around on tables, floors and walls. In awe Arana looked around the massive room, her lightsaber at the ready in case of new attacks.  
“Can you record this Scruffy? I’m sure Garm and the others would be interested to see this.” Arana said while brushing over the table leaving a trail in the dust. They looked around until they reached the other side where another door was located, only this door was already half open. With squinting eyes Arana studied it but she noticed there was dust on the floor and if someone had entered it would have left a trail, so she felt somewhat more at ease knowing that. Carefully she peeked around the corner, the light were off in this room making it very ominous. She activated her lightsaber and stepped inside with Scruffy right behind her.  
“Can you light up so we can have a better look at the room? Arana asked Scruffy, who turned his lights on, shining into the distance revealing some kind of research lab.  
“Scruffy can you turn on the rooms lighting?” Arana asked her droid while walking to some of the tables. With a beep Scruffy went on his way looking for a way to turn on the lights, while he was looking Arana used her lightsaber to light up the table. A lot of papers had been burned or damaged over time, as she tried to pick some pages up they crumbled in her hands. When she tried to pick up a book it turned into dust and she had to shield her mouth and eyes for a moment. With a few coughs due to the dust she walked backwards bumping into a locker. As she bumped into it the door fell out of the base, Arana dodged it and with a loud noise it came down on the floor sending even more dust flying. After the dust had cleared up she looked at the locker, which turned out to be some kind of secret door. As she as peering into the darkness of the lockers passage she could hear a surge of power and the lights turned on.  
_Great Scruffy managed to turn the power on._ Arana thought smiling, glad to have her friend with her. Now that she was finally able to see more she was ready to explore that locker. As Scruffy returned Arana beckoned him to follow her as she went through the locker. When Scruffy had turned the lights on, a room in the distance had been powered up at the end of the long dark passage on the other side of the locker. With her lightsaber up, shielding her if she needed to defend herself Arana walked through the narrow passage. When she stepped through the final bit into the room where the light came from she was almost blinded. The light, extremely bright, reflected through the room like sunlight on water. As her eyes adjusted to the bright light she noticed the room was as white as snow, so smooth and clean like time hadn’t touched it at all. Amazed by the view Arana followed a path lit by beams of light of pure white, it made her feel at ease and in a certain way soothed her aching body and tired mind. What ever this was it was something she had never seen or heard of before. The path lead her to a spheric chamber with a giant pillar in the center of it. As she approached the pillar she noticed someone was sitting against it. Her heart was starting to beat faster and with her lightsaber drawn she moved towards whoever sat there, until she noticed it were only the remains of that person. Arana turned her lightsaber off and looked at the corpse.  
_From all the places this certainly was a peaceful place to pass to the next life._ Arana thought looking around the spheric room until she stopped at the pillar. She walked around studying the strange pillar until she got to the copse again. The pillar had a strange triangular hole on this side, Arana brushed a finger around the hole and figured it was some fort of lock. She looked at the corpse again studying it more closely until she noticed his hands were closed together.  
“Hmm, what are you holding?” Arana asked reaching for his hands to find out. As she opened the hands a white crystal like pyramid was in his hands. She took it out of his hands and studied it.  
_Could this be the key that fits into that pillar?_ Arana thought looking at the pillar again.  
_He clearly was trying to hide this for some reason but why hide the key near the lock?_ Her thoughts were puzzled at the illogical choice to hide so close to the lock  
“Unless? You tried to unlock it with the key and it didn’t work!” Arana mumbled to herself.  
“But what good is a key if the lock doesn’t open once you use it?” She added trying to figure it out.  
_What is it you tried to unlock?_ Arana thought looking at the key in her hand and the lock it was suppose to go into. Slowly she walked forwards with the key in her hand aiming for the lock, Arana heard Scruffy beeping in the background but she had to know what would happen if she opened the lock. Closer and closer her hand came when suddenly like a magnet the key was drawn into the lock by its own. “Wait what?” Arana said surprised by the unexpected moment. The moment the key entered the lock electricity came from the walls and were sucked into the top of the pillar, Arana did a few steps back not sure if this was what she wanted, Scruffy beeped in fear and tried to fly away but was struck by a bolt of lightning and crashed into the floor.  
“No Scruffy!” Arana shouted reaching for her friend but another bolt of lightning shot down and without thinking she activated her lightsaber, which absorbed the lightning. Arana’s heart was pounding faster and she thought to herself what she had done but as soon as it all began it ended just as fast. The lightning had stopped so did all the lights as well, with only her lightsaber Arana carefully moved to Scruffy, who, luckily rebooted himself. Relieved he hadn’t suffered any serious damage, she couldn’t help but think what she had activated.  
_Was it possibly a key to shut down all power in the facility?_ Arana thought but when she noticed the key was still glowing she wondered if all the energy had been absorbed into it. Before she could find out the pillar lit up almost instantly like a massive beam of light, followed with a blinding flash lighting the entire room. When Arana opened her eyes again all the power had turned on again and the pillar started make a strange sound. With her lightsaber drawn she watched the pillar open up and once it had opened up she saw.. _A Human? No it looked mechanical, a humanoid droid?_ Arana wasn’t sure what it was, it looked like a human but it was actually a droid hanging in a beam of light. Suddenly the mechanical eyes activated and it stepped out of the levitating beam onto the ground. This droid was all white and golden with dark wiring like veins running through his design, his face was hidden behind a smooth mask only with holes to reveal his orange eyes. The droid looked at his hands and moved them, only when Scruffy beeped when he had fully rebooted did the droid look in their way. What happened after went so fast that Arana had barely any time to get her lightsaber up before the droid would have decapitated her. Arana pushed him back and jumped backwards, taking her lightsaber with both hands, holding it up to protect her. This droid had drawn a white lightsaber which was hanging on his side. Arana notice he had another one hanging on his other side and he clearly knew how to use them. She took a deep breath and watched the droid study her before he put deactivated his lightsaber and started to walk towards her.  
“I’m sorry master, I didn’t mean to attack you, my systems feel a little unstable after being awakened from my sleep.” The droid said taking his other lightsaber and kneeling in front of Arana to present his weapons to her. Speechless and confused Arana had no idea what to do but she knew this droid could be extremely dangerous if he would attack her again.  
“I will have to take your lightsabers for the time being, until you have recovered your more stable.” Arana said carefully reaching for the two lightsabers.  
“An excellent choice, as to be expected from a Jedi master.” The droid said still kneeling down in front of her. Arana put the lightsabers in her pocket belt and took a step back again. After a while she figured he was waiting for her orders.  
“You may rise, uhm..” Arana hesitated since she didn’t know his name, but the droid stood up and put his hands on his back.  
“My name is Harukea, I was created by a man who told me I was their last connection with the force and that if I wanted to learn more about the world I had to seek out a Jedi master if I was to be awakened.” Harukea said introducing himself and explaining his reasons. Arana felt a bit dizzy from all the events that had happened in such a short time, that she lost her balance for a moment. Harukea was fast and held her up by supporting her arm.  
“Are you alright master, you don’t look so well and I hardly sense any force from within you.” Harukea asked releasing her when she had found her balance again. A little scared of what this droid could do, Arana decided to play along, at least for now until she was reunited with Garm and the others.  
“Yes, sorry it has been a crazy day, we have been attacked all day long and I’m just exhausted, thats all.” Arana replied thinking about what to do next.  
_What if this droid found out she wasn’t a master? Heck! Not even a Jedi at all! Would he attack her knowing that she was exhausted?_ Arana thought to herself.  
“Are these attackers still around?” Harukea asked curious.  
“Uhm I don’t think so, some maybe but I think the others are dealing with them right now.” Arana explained trying not to give a lot of personal information.  
“I see, sorry master but I have one more question if you would be so kind?” Harukea asked politely.  
“What do you want to know?” Arana asked afraid he finally figured out she wasn’t a Jedi.  
“I would like to know your name, so that I can properly address you, my master.” Harukea asked waiting for her response. Arana didn’t know why but without hesitation she told him her name.  
“My name is Arana, Arana Vakrii.” Her heart was beating a little faster as she waited for his response.  
“Arana Vakrii, I am pleased to meet you, now let us reunite you with your allies.” Harukea said while walking passed her towards the way out.  
“Allow me to lead the way, I will make sure you will soon be among your allies, Master Vakrii” Harukea said and before Arana knew it, she was following him without questioning, mainly because the only thing that was on her mind now were the following words.  
_Master Vakrii._


	5. Chapter 4 - Takodana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Savanna Squadron is send on a diplomatic mission to meet with some rebels to talk about joining forces with the New Alliance.

Chapter 4 - Takodana

The mission was easy enough, get to the rendezvous at noon and convince the rebels to join the New Alliance, in theory this wouldn’t be much of a problem. However the fact that Rysorr and his squadron had to accompany the escort and twenty soldiers showed that this was a very tricky operation. Rysorr had been debriefed by the council and Commander Kara Rieekan that signs of enemy ships had been discovered. The only questions remained if these were ships from the first order or the outsiders which is what they called their new enemy. Hopefully it was the Order since the Outsiders knew how to counter the new alliance, they used strange weapons and tools giving them an extra advantage. As the carriers broke through the clouds Rysorr and his team prepared themselves for anything.  
“We are landing in approximate five minutes!” The Captain of the soldiers regimen B shouted from the front of the ship. Rysorr looked at the soldiers who were just equipped with regular standard gear, nothing special, not that they needed to be but if they were going to deal with Outsiders the soldiers were mere cannon fodder. Savanna Squadron on the other hand had taken special gear and weapons with them, in case they had to deal with them. Nomyri looked at Rysorr and waited for his attention.  
“Do you think this mission will succeed?” She asked her squad leader trying to figure out what his guts were saying, since that was what usually saved their lives.  
“I think that this rendezvous is a waste of time, if those rebels wanted to join they would have done so already.” Rysorr said feeling suspicious about the whole operation. He double checked his blaster and so did his squad with their weapons as well. When the ships landed and the doors opened they moved out and stepped to the side to let the soldiers pass, while they scouted the horizon for anything unusual.  
“West clear.” Jaran reported.  
“East is clear.” Fokii reported.  
“North has a clear sky.” Cylyxi reported.  
“South seems clear.” Nomyri reported last. The Savanna squadron was a well oiled group of fighters, both in the sky and on the ground. Rysorr checked his data-pad in case the New Alliance had any new information about those ships but no new information was coming in. As the last soldiers moved out the ships took off and Savanna Squad moved in after the two soldier groups. They went through some forest route on their way to the new settlement, decades ago the Order and the Rebellion had fought here on Takodana, but despite that it was still a hot spot for fugitives, smugglers and explorers. The rebel group they were going to meet had a lot of small groups across the galaxy, so winning them over would most likely draw all of them towards the New Alliance. They almost arrived at the settlement borders just across the hill and they were able to see it.  
“This planet looks so amazing, I never seen so much green in my whole life.” Jaran said amazed looking at the vegetation around them. Rysorr hadn’t been to any planet this green either and it sure looked nice but there was nothing better than the open space. The freedom to soar around and go anywhere you wanted was liberating. When they reached the top of the hill they could see the new settlement in the distance, it was mostly hidden by the trees but some structures showed just over the tree line. As Rysorr reached the top he saw the captain from group B and moved up him.  
“Hey Lammar did you see anything unusual yet.” Rysorr asked the captain since he and his men had arrived to the top before Savanna Squadron.  
“Ah Rysorr, you are as serious as ever.” Captain Lammar laughed when the big Cathar walked up to him.  
“My soldiers haven’t spotted anything unusual, but you are free to do a quick check for yourself you guys are better trained so you might find something we missed.” Captain Lammar said offering his telescope, but Rysorr pushed it aside.  
“I trust your eyes, we have worked together for many years now, besides if we can’t see anything in the sky there is no point gazing into the trees as the enemy wouldn’t be up there.” Rysorr said with a little smile.  
“What about group A.” Nomyri asked as she stepped next to them.  
“Group A has gone ahead already with the negotiator, they should be arriving in the new settlement shortly.” Captain Lammar answered before one of his soldiers walked up to them.  
“Sir, we have received word that group A has safely arrived in the new settlement with the negotiator, they have also send some scouts to investigate to the area surrounding the rendezvous, sir.” The soldier reported while waiting for his new orders.  
“Alright get our men ready to move, we will be heading out to meet with group A, thats the order.” Captain Lammar replied to his soldier before turning to Rysorr and Nomyri again.  
“Looks like everything is going according to plan so far.” He said with a smile, relieved to know there hadn’t been any trouble so far. When group B left the hill, Savanna squadron had moved with them. While Rysorr and Lammar discussed a few things, the remaining Savanna members felt a lot of attention drawn towards them from the soldiers. One of the soldiers moved up to Fokii and asked if he could have her signature once the mission was over, it turned out he had been a big fan of her and knew about all her missions. Some of the soldiers surrounded Cylyxi as well asking her about some of her missions. Jokin also was approached by a soldier but he waved him away and dropped his pace to walk next to Nomyri, who was surprised by his presence.  
“Everything alright Jokin?” Nomyri asked while keeping an eye on her surroundings.  
“Yhea I’m good, just had a lot on my mind last night so didn’t sleep much.” Jokin said while covering a yawn with his hand.  
“Is this about what happened in the cafeteria?” Nomyri asked thinking that was the cause. Jokin gave a deep long sigh and looked at Nomyri.  
“Well yhea, aren’t you bothered by it? I mean they are suppose to be on our side, yet those order people are so narrow minded, I just don’t get why we need to work with them.” Jokin said explaining his frustration. Nomyri made a little sigh and met him eye to eye before she replied.  
“Listen Jokin, I will tell you this once.” Nomyri started to get his attention.  
“We Cathar are a proud species, what happened to our ancestors was terrible but if we hold on to all the hatred we will never be able to achieve true peace among our galaxy. Especially now with those Outsiders who are trying to take everything, we have to stay united and I mean all of us. We really appreciate what you did for us but next time just show them that we are better than them or all we worked for won’t be meaning anything in the end.”Nomyri said putting a hand on his shoulder. Jokin stared at the ground for a moment and tabbed her hand.  
“Thank you Nomyri, I will do my best to be a good example.” Jokin said all cheered up by the words from his friend. As they reached the new settlement they headed towards group A who was holding up in a nearby building.  
“Ah Captain Lammar I see you and Savanna Squadron have showed up.” Captain Lin Gi said when she saw them enter the building.  
“We kept an eye on the sky but nothing to see so we decided to join with you guys.” Captain Lammar replied while sending some of his men to a couple vintage points as look outs.  
“I had some of my men scout the area other than the usual thugs and fugitives we saw no real threats.” Captain Lin Gi said informing the others about the situation.  
“That is good to know, but did you by chance discover any of the rebels were suppose to meet already? Rysorr asked getting straight to the point to get an idea about it all. Captain Lin Gi looked at Rysorr and frowned.  
“We haven’t seen any rebels but we were suppose to meet them at noon so why would we run into them before it is time to meet?” Captain Lin Gi asked not getting what the point was Rysorr was trying to make. Lammar put his fist on Rysorr’s chest and stepped forward.  
“What my friend here is trying to say, is that it is strange that the rebels who contacted us, picked this location and time to meet us but they aren’t present themselves in a settlement that has been set up for people like them. Don’t you think so too captain?” Captain Lammar explained. Lin Gi pondered about it for a moment as it did make sense, why wouldn’t the rebels be here, the most logical place for them to wait.  
“What is it you suggest?” Captain Lin Gi asked trying to find out what Rysorr was thinking.  
“I think this whole things was a set up, a trap to weaken the New Alliance.” Rysorr pointed out bluntly.  
“Those are some serious thoughts, what makes you so certain they aren’t just hiding out of precaution?” Captain Lin Gi pointed out having a hard time believing this was all a trap.  
“Your call captain, but if I were you I would be extra careful.” Rysorr said before moving out of the building to look around the settlement with his squadron for any clues.  
“So what is our plan?” Nomyri asked waiting for some orders with the rest of the Savanna squadron.  
“Our main task is to find out if these rebels actually did set foot in this settlement, so I want you all to look for clues.” Rysorr explained to his team. “Oh and make sure to return before the appointed rendezvous time.” Rysorr added as his team went on their way to find any clues. Rysorr himself went to visit one of the pubs, nothing beats a place like that to gain information, although as a member of the New Alliance it might be difficult to persuade the thugs and like minded to share any information with him. But he had a plan that would most certainly work out. As he stepped into the bar the place was filled with smoke and the noise of chatter and music. Slowly Rysorr walked up to the bar, making a few faces turn around where others glared at him. At the bar he smashed his paw on the bar and the sound of coin attracted the barkeepers attention.  
“Say what does a cat like you do in a place like this, you ran out of mice.” The barkeeper, a Toydarian said mocking trying to be funny. Some members around the bar laughed their sinister laughs but Rysorr wasn’t bothered by it.  
“Give my a fine glass of Takodana ale, clean if you can and this is all yours.” Rysorr said lifting his paw up revealing a small stack of credits, worth more than the drink would be. The Toydarian tried to reach for the credits but Rysorr trapped his hand under his paw, smiling at how easy it was to trap his prey.  
“Oooaa!” The Toydarian said pulling his hand free.  
“First serve me my drink, I want a clean glass, got it.” Rysorr said stern. The Toydarian rubbed his hand and flew to a droid who was working for him.  
“Get me a clean glass, for this fine gentleman, hehe.” The Toydarian said laughing, kicking the droid against the head.  
“Make it fast I ain’t got whole day you tin can!” He said while reaching for a new bottle of Takodana Ale. Rysorr looked as the Toydarian barkeeper grabbed the glass from the droid and rubbed it with his apron to make sure it was cleaned well enough before he poured the ale in.  
“Here you go my fuzzy..” The Toydarian started but corrected his phrasing when he looked at Rysorr’s serious face. “A Takodana Ale for my might friend, the best ale of the planet.” The Toydarian said hoping to earn some extra credits on his new costumer. Rysorr lifted his paw up and reached for the ale and the moment his paw was gone the Toydarian snatched the credits away and put it safely in his pocket.  
“If there is anything you need you just give me a call.” The Toydarian said rubbing his hands. Rysorr took a sip from his Takodana ale, which to his surprise wasn’t as bad as he thought it would in a place like this. After Rysorr had drunken some more of his ale, he looked around the pub to see if he could find anyone that might be able to tell him more about the rebels. There sure were a lot of ominous and shady characters in the pub, which some probably wanted criminals. One thug tried to steal from Rysorr but he noticed and looked at the little thieve who shivered in fear when he knew he was noticed and bolted away before he got hurt. Rysorr looked at the holoscreen on his wrist and figured he should get more serious as time was ticking. He put his empty glass on the bar just loud enough for the Toydarian to notice who came to him almost instantly.  
“My friend what can I do for you.” The Toydarian said with open arms as he flew to Rysorr.  
“I was wondering if you could help me with some information.” Rysorr asked hoping the Toydarian would let something slip but he was clever.  
“What do you mean information, what do I look like a librarian? No we only serve drinks here” The Toydarian said shaking his head but when Rysorr showed him some credits he was all talk.  
“Oh I see you meant information, sorry for the misunderstanding the music must have been too loud, now tell me what do you want to know and maybe I can be of service, for a nice price of course a man has to run a bar after all.” The Toydarian said smirking.  
“I was wondering if you heard anything about a group of rebels who visited the new settlement, like very recently.” Rysorr asked and just at the moment he asked the music had stopped playing so more ears picked up his conversation and before he knew he could hear some guns being loaded. Most likely there were spies about making this more dangerous now since he was alone. The Toydarian scratched his thick chin for a moment.  
“Rebels you say, I don’t know I think my mind needs a little stimulation, I tend to forget thing easily these days, must be the age kicking in.” The Toydarian laughed trying to swindle some credits off Rysorr. Suddenly a hand was placed on the bar next to him and when he looked some cloaked figure with protective gloves and a hat stood next to him.  
“Something with a little kick and make it quick.” The cloaked man said lifting his hand showing a bunch of coins. The Toydarian looked at Rysorr and figured that he wouldn’t leave without an answer so he decided to help the stranger.  
“I’ll be right back, the man has a thirst and we better not keep a man waiting for his drink.” He said while turning to his liquors. He kicked some droid again and was working on the drink. Rysorr wasn’t sure if he liked this new stranger, he had cost him precious time.  
“Listen pal, I heard your little conversation and it is best if we find ourselves a nice little corner in the back, besides that swindler doesn’t know what you want, he only tried to get your credits.” The stranger said before the Toydarian returned with his drink. He took the drink and walked away towards a corner, Rysorr looked at him and followed him.  
“Hey, hey! Where are you going?” The Toydarian said confused but he had better things to do than to waste time for some credits so he returned to serve the bar. The stranger sat down in a corner and Rysorr took a seat across him to see what this guy had to tell him.  
The stranger took a long sip of his drink and put it down.  
“Whoeh that sure goes in just fine.” He said raising his hat.  
“My name is Raulnik Quickdraw and I have heard of your rebels while I was…”He paused for a moment “Visiting for some business.” Raulnik said introducing himself, clearly he wasn’t here for some simple buisness by the looks of it. Rysorr figured he was some sort of bounty hunter, but that didn’t matter, all he wanted to know was more about these rebels.  
“Alright Raulnik Quickdraw, tell me what you know so we can both be on our way.” Rysorr said trying to cut to the point as time was ticking.  
“I will tell you what you need to know but I need something in return if you don’t mind.” Raulnik said smoothly trying to get what he wanted. Rysorr snarled since he knew this was coming.  
“Is it credits you want than I can assure you that I have plenty to…” Rysorr started before being interrupted by the bounty hunter.  
“I am afraid I have not much use for a few credits, no I want something else.” Raulnik pointed out.  
“And what is it that you need?” Rysorr asked a little annoyed since he probably wasn’t going to like the answer.  
“Glad you asked, you see I have been stuck on this planet for some time now. The main reason for this is that the New Alliance has kind of, confiscated my ship, which I would like to have back. Now if I would give you the information you need, I would like you two pull a few strings so I can have my ship back.” Raulnik explained trying to strike a deal.  
“What makes you think that I can get you your ship back.” Rysorr replied not liking the idea one bit.  
“Well I don’t know, maybe you, Rysorr Si, famous x-wing starfighter pilot and leader of the Savanna Squadron can stop playing around and just take the damned offer. You will get your information so you will be happy, I will be happy, so everyone will be happy! And I promise you, you won’t see me again and we will both go our ways. You with your bandit friends and me, well I will just do what I’m good at.” Raulnik said with a sleek smile on his face. Rysorr felt played and what ever this bounty hunter was doing he sure wasn’t going to make such a deal with the likes of him.  
“You think you got it all planned out now do you, but guess what I don’t need your help so good luck getting off this planet because you will never fly that ship again.” Rysorr said angry leaving Raulnik Quickdraw behind. Sure there would be more people around who knew more about the rebels, disappointed in himself Rysorr walked out of the pub to meet up with his squadron, who hopefully had better news. When he arrived at their meeting point Nomyri, Cylyxi and Fokii already waited for him.  
“Any news about the rebels?” Rysorr asked as approached them.  
“Nothing on our end but I Jokin had send me a message he might had a lead so he continued his search for a little longer.” Nomyri explained why Jokin wasn’t with them.  
“So be it, let us head back to Captain Lammar and Lin Gi to see if they have had any news.” Rysorr said walking back to the others, hoping Jokin would be able to find something. Once they returned there were only twenty minutes before it was noon and there was still no word about the rebels. When suddenly Rysorr’s comlink beeped it turned out to be Jokin who had found out more regarding to the rebels, it turned out the Order had been hunting them and so they had fled from the planet to avoid being captured. Rysorr asked Jokin if he double checked this information but he said it was coming from a reliable source, so Rysorr trusted him for it. Once he told Captain Lammar the whole story he scratched his head and figured that they should contact the commander for information. After ten minutes he returned to Rysorr.  
“Alright it seems the commander has had a confirmation as well that the rebels have changed their rendezvous location and time, so we are summoned back to the pick up zone.” Captain Lammar explained to him and soon after he gave the order to his group to move out and so did Lin Gi’s Group. By the time it was almost noon they had reached the hills and when it was High Noon they had just arrived at the top of the hills. As they moved over the hill Nomyri who was at the back suddenly heard a low pitched sound.  
“Take cover!” Nomyri shouted just as gunship flew over their head towards the settlement. Everyone took cover and watched as multiple gunships fired their missiles at the new settlement. They all knew that it was no coincidence that the settlement got attacked at noon and if they hadn’t figured out about the rebels they would have been the ones turned to ashes just like the settlement which had been wiped completely of the planet. They noticed that these were no ordinary ships like the Order would use, no these were Outsider gunships and by the looks of things they were here to strike down any possible increase of resistance. Rysorr and the others slowly moved away using the cover of the trees to get to the pick up zone, they had to get away as soon as possible before they would get detected.  
“What was that all about!” Captain Lin Gi asked horrified after seeing the new settlement getting wiped off the planet in mere seconds  
“Those were gunships from the Outsiders, someone must have told them about our meeting.” Rysorr pointed out slamming his fist into a nearby tree.  
“But who could’ve told them the only people who knew were the rebels and our council and all our men were with us so they can’t have told anyone either.” Captain Lammar said trying to narrow down any suspects.  
“All our men but Jokin Antran.” Captain Lin Gi pointed out all of a sudden.  
“Jokin is no traitor, he even informed us about the rebels did you forgot that already?” Rysorr said with anger since none of his team would turn on them ever.  
“Well where is he now than?” Lin Gi asked trying to prove a point.  
“He was searching for answers last time we spoke with him after that we left the settlement and I told him to meet us at the pick up zone.” Rysorr replied defending not taking any false accusations regarding his team.  
“Hey take it easy you two, we are all on the same side here here, our main objective is to get to the pick up zone and if all is well we’ll see Jokin there as well.” Captain Lammar said trying to keep the peace. Rysorr and Lin Gi both stopped their arguing since it was more important to get off the planet alive. As they made their way for the pick up zone, they noticed more Outsider ships enter the orbit of Takodana. By the time they reached the drop zone they could already see their carriers approach. Both carrier ships landed and opened their hatch quickly so the New Alliance troops could board. Rysorr and his team provided cover for them since they had a rocket launcher and a special laser rifle specially designed to deal with aircraft. As everyone was boarding two gunships approached them, they had probably discovered something and were send to scout the area. Fokii used a telescope to read their position and once they were in range before giving the signal to fire. Nomyri fired and the rocket from the rocket launcher which send the projectile towards its target. The Gunships clearly didn’t expect any resistance so the rocket hit its mark with ease, sending one of the Outsiders ships down. The other gunship tried to get away but Cylyxi shot the laser rifle which tore right through its left wing, sending it into a spin down to the surface. Some of the soldiers cheered as they saw the enemy ships go down but Rysorr knew this wasn’t over yet. The first carrier ship was closing up and ready to take Captain Lin Gi and her team to space. Fokii signaled the pilot he was safe to depart and so it flew up into the clouds where it disappeared. Next was for the second carrier with Captain Lammal and his man, the negotiator and Savanna squadron, the only problem was that new Outsider gunships were heading towards their coordinates.  
“Rysorr get your team on board we are ready to go.” Captain Lammar shouted in the opening of the carrier waiting for the others before they could leave.  
“If we take off without any cover we’ll be blasted to pieces before we even get above the clouds.” Rysorr replied while stopping his team from boarding.  
“We can’t leave without you guys! How will you get off this planet alive if the Outsiders are invading Takodana?” Capatain Lammar asked concerned.  
“Just go we will hold them off, besides we haven’t seen Jokin either and we won’t leave anyone behind” Rysorr replied closing the carrier hatch.  
“Fokii status on those gunships if you can?” Rysorr ordered his squad member, trying to figure out how far the enemy ships were from the carrier.  
“They are coming in fast, so they have to leave now!” Fokii reported keeping an eye on the incoming ships. Rysorr signaled the pilot and off they went into the sky. Nomyri fired a rocket at one of the approaching ships but missed, the Outsiders had learned their location and were now better prepared. Next to fire was Cylyxi with the laser which when fired hit one of the gunships but not well enough to cause serious damage.  
“Four gunships coming in hot!” Fokii reported moving towards the tree line already since there wouldn’t be much time once they reached them and she couldn’t do any more to help.  
“Come on take those ships out!’ Rysorr said while watching the carrier climb up in the sky. Nomyri had loaded a new rocket and aimed for her target, waiting for Cylyxi to fire first. The laser had been recharged again and Cylyxi had one more chance before the gunships would be in range. She pulled the trigger and the laser shot forward, this time hitting the right wing from the already damaged gunship. As the wing shattered into pieces the gunship spun into the one flying next to it and with that chaos Nomyri Fired at the other ships flank forcing it in the direction of the two ships that flew into each other. The missile hit the edge of the wing as the gunship tried to evade it and as it started to lose control it almost flew into the last gunship which had dived down to avoid getting caught by the other ships. Rysorr and his team took three Outsider ships down but wouldn’t have enough time to take down the final gunship. The carrier had made it into the clouds so now Rysorr and his team only had to get the hell out of there or they would get blown to pieces by the last gunship. Rysorr ran with Nomyri and Cylyxi to the tree line were Fokii cheered them on to move faster. The gunships engines roared closer every second and just before they reached the tree line they heard it fly straight up. This only meant one thing, they were after the carrier and had no intension to let it leave the orbit. Rysorr and the others made it to Fokii and they all four watched the gunship disappear into the clouds, hoping it was too late to catch up on the carrier. Just when they thought the gunship had missed them they received an incoming comlink.  
“They are on out tail… kkggk …. Can’t shake it off … Kgggkk.. “ A soldier report thought some static over the comlink. Savanna Squadron listen carefully, hoping they would escape but when they heard an explosion in the sky they feared the worse. Their fear got confirmed when the comlink started to pick up the message from the soldier again.  
“Mayday mayday, we are hit!.. Kgggkkk Crash coordinates are 5-5-0 Delta.. “ The soldier kept repeating. Rysorr and his team held their breath when they saw the carrier cleave through the clouds heading down towards the planet with incredible speed. As they disappeared into the distance Rysorr looked at his team and they knew that now that they received the coordinates of the crash they had to find the ship and look for possible survivors, they would need all the help they could get if they were to get off this planet alive and so they headed towards the crash site.


	6. Chapter 5 - Under the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After bringing Harukea to life, Arana Vakrii tries to stay calm but the more she learns about him the more uncertain she becomes about the safety of her crew and herself.

**Chapter 5 - Under the Stars**

For two hours they had been walking, Arana’s legs felt like broomsticks, but if she showed any weakness Harukea would most likely find out she wasn’t a Jedi. So now all she could do was follow him until they would get to Garm and the others. Harukea had used the control room in the facility to locate them and after they gone through the facility they moved into a hidden pass in the cave, which ended back on the surface. Arana had kissed the ground for a moment when they were outside and made up some excuse when Harukea asked what she was doing. They surprisingly didn’t encounter any rancor, which was a relief since Arana had no strength left to fight at all. She had used Scruffy to send out a message to Garm and the others but didn’t receive any response yet. As they walked through the jungle Arana felt her energy draining, she was dehydrating fast, she hadn’t eaten or drunken anything ever since they landed on this planet, which had been for more than twelve hours now. On top of that the star lighting the planet was almost gone so soon it would be dark and she had no idea how to manage to find her way in total darkness. Scruffy beeped at her as she started to zigzag and bumped into her when she was about to fall over. It gave her a little kick and she regained her focus but after several steps she started to lose her focus again and this time Scruffy couldn’t help her stay on her feet and she collapsed. When Arana woke up she saw the stars. Scruffy beeped happy when she woke up. With a shock she sat straight up and looked around in panic.  
“Take it easy master Vakrii, you have lost a lot of water, here take this.” Harukea said offering something as he walked towards her.  
“Ugh ugh, what is that?” Arana asked with a weak voice while coughing a dry cough.  
“I have drained the fluids from a nearby tree, I think you call it water.” Harukea said offering a leaf with water in it. Carefully he brought it close to her and helped her drink it until she held the leaf herself. Arana drank too fast and coughed as she tried to catch some air.  
“I will get some more, just take it easy master.” He said before moving towards one of the trees nearby. Arana patted her chest and when she stopped coughing she took a deep breath to calm down. She watched Harukea gather new water and reached for her head as she still felt a little dizzy, now noticing a leaf on her forehead, she pulled it carefully off and felt that it had been made wet. When Harukea returned she took the water and drank it all, without chocking this time.  
“Thank you.” Arana said softly, grateful for the help her but still confused about what his true intentions were.  
“There is no need thank me, it was me who failed to notice my master was feeling unwell.” Harukea said kneeling and bowing deep to show his regret. Arana was too tired to play for master so she just kept her answer casual.  
“It’s alright we all make mistakes.” She said watching him sit right up again.  
“So how long have I been out?” Arana asked trying to know how much time she had lost.  
“You have been out for a couple of hours, your droid received a message when you were out.” Harukea said pointing at Scruffy. Arana turned to Scruffy as she was dieing to know what that message was.  
“Show me the message scruffy.” Arana asked trying to get up but her legs were sleeping so she almost fell over. Scruffy flew towards her and played the message.  
“Hey Arana we are glad to hear you are alright, we have been trying to fix the ship but these damn rancor are persistent and hardly gave us time to fix things. Hopefully you receive this message because I’m telling you to stay safe for the night, we will come pick you up next thing in the morning, it is just too dangerous to get outside now, Take care kiddo, Garm out.” Arana smiled as she was happy her friends were alright. Harukea listened intrigued to the message as it was something he experienced for the first time.  
“Was that your master who spoke in that message?” Harukea asked curious all of a sudden. Arana frowned for a moment and let another smile appear on her face.  
“Garm isn’t a master but he does take care of me and the others.” Arana explained to him.  
“So he is your caretaker than, what happened to your master?” Harukea asked trying to understand how it all worked. Arana couldn’t tell him the truth but she couldn’t lie either as that would be just as bad so she thought of something else.  
“Hey don’t you think it is getting cold?” Arana said closing her jacket which was meant to change the subject but she could feel the temperature dropping as well.  
“Cold” Harukea said thinking. “I don’t know any cold but my memory says that all living things require heat in order to survive, are you stating we should make a fire, master?” He asked waiting for her reply.  
“I guess since you are a droid you don’t feel anything,but yes we need a fire or I might freeze to death.” Arana pointed out trying to stand up to look for some wood.  
“Please wait here and rest some more, allow me to gather some wood for a fire.” Harukea offered so she take it easy. After ten minutes he had gathered enough wood and Arana used her lightsaber to turn the fire on. They all three sat around the fire but only Arana was feeling recharged by the heat, both Scruffy and Harukea just watched her.  
“How does it feel?” Harukea asked as he observed Arana’s emotions as she got warmed up by the heat. Arana looked up at him and thought for a moment.  
“It is hard to explain, it feels warm thats for sure but it also feels energetic as if you slowly get new energy in your body, which is a very pleasant feeling.” Arana explained smiling since she hadn’t expected such a conversation.  
“I can sense your energy is increasing, however your force level still seems close to non-existing, does that mean you need more fire?” Harukea asked confused. It made Arana feel uncomfortable that he was able to see if someone had the force in them and based on his senses she was at risk since she had no force at all. All she had to do is stall enough time, if she could just make it to Garm she could leave and avoid being discovered.  
“I need a lot of rest, I fought a lot today so that might be it.” Arana said telling half the truth, she did fight a lot and her mind and body were exhausted.  
“Why don’t you get some rest master I will stay on guard since I don’t need any rest.” Harukea said trying to help his master.  
“Scruffy will also keep an eye out so be good to him.” Arana said strict to Harukea who bowed to her.  
“Of course master I will watch over you and the little droid.” Harukea said standing up to watch the area. Arana pulled Scruffy closer to her and whispered to her little friend.  
“Keep an eye on him and wake me if anything happens alright.” Scruffy made a beep and hovered up into the direction of Harukea to keep him in his vision.

The next morning Arana woke up by the sound of a rancor roar not far away. Quickly she reached for her lightsaber but she discovered it was gone.  
“Harukea?” Arana called out confused trying to spot the droid but he was nowhere to be seen. Next she looked for Scruffy but he had also disappeared without a trace.  
_Where are they? And Where is my lightsaber? Could it be Harukea found out and took her saber so she would be defenseless against any predators that roamed around?_ Arana’s thoughts went before a rancor roar brought her back the senses. When another rancor roared its roar sounded was closer than the previous one. Arana’s heart started to beat a little faster and quickly she reached for her belt to find something to defend herself. On her belt she noticed the pouch and remembered that she put the two lightsabers from Harukea in it. She opened the pouch and with a big sigh of relief she found that the two sabers were still there. Arana took them both out and activated them immediately, the white light from the lightsabers sure gave her a more secure feeling but they didn’t quite give her the same feeling as when she held her own lightsaber, these felt heavier. At least Arana felt ready enough to deal with any rancor who dared to attack her, especially now that she had rested a little, her mind and body were good to go. All of a sudden Arana heard the death cry of a rancor which made her wonder.  
_Could that be Harukea? Or were it Garm and the others who searched for her?_ Arana thought but it did not matter, a dead rancor meant someone was fighting them so she decided to have a look. As Arana made her way through the dense jungle she noticed more rancors roaring from the direction she was heading to, followed by the cries of pain. To pick up the speed Arana used her lightsabers to cut her path through veins and branches until she stumbled upon a rancor that showed right after some leaves she just cut down. Arana got startled and as she tried to step back she lost her balance on a root falling backwards on the ground. Out of instinct she reached upwards with her lightsaber to protect herself but for some reason the rancor wasn’t moving. Slowly Arana got up to her feet and carefully studied the rancor. She waved one of her lightsabers to get a reaction but there was none, careful she approached the beast until she noticed it was dead. She sighed with relief and slowly moved around the big creature to find deep carvings in the back of it. This meant only one thing, a lightsaber had been used, more importantly her lightsaber. Harukea had come past here, but why was he fighting with her lightsaber? He wouldn’t have left her to die, knowing she still had his lightsabers, So there probably was a different reason for his actions. As Arana followed a trail left by Harukea she came across limps and other body parts of rancor, whatever he was doing he seemed to have a clear goal as the trail let into one direction. While following the trail Arana finally got as close as hearing the sound of a lightsaber in action, her lightsaber to be precise. When she cut through the last bit of jungle she saw Harukea stand across, facing a rather large rancor. The beast was extremely angry which by the looks of it was caused by a cut through his eye. Enraged the rancor charged at Harukea who simply stood there not moving at all with his lightsaber turned off.  
_What is he doing? Did the lightsaber break?_ Arana was thinking as she watched the scene. But than something extraordinary happened, Harukea moved his arms and as he put them up the rancor got lifted off the ground. Arana watched with open mouth at the whole scene, not knowing how this was even possible. She heard Harukea grunt a little, it seemed he was the one lifting the beast off the ground.  
“How is that even possible?” She mumbled to herself when suddenly she noticed another rancor sneaking up on Harukea ready to attack. Harukea clearly too busy doing that thing he does didn’t see the threat draw closer but luckily for him Arana was there and she decided to help him, even if it was just to get her lightsaber back and ask what had happened to Scruffy. As the other rancor made his move Arana had sneak upon him and with a swift leap she landed on top of the rancor and cleaved his head off with the two lightsabers. The rancors dead body dropped only several meters away from Harukea who looked over his shoulder to see his master.  
“Ah master Vakrii, I see you have found me.” Harukea said while slowly gaining control with one hand so he could use his other.  
“Why did you take my weapon and leave me? And more importantly where is Scruffy?” Arana said pointing a lightsaber at the droid. Harukea succeeded to keep the beast hovered above him with one hand and activated the lightsaber. Arana Took a step back and entered a defensive stance ready to defend herself, when suddenly Harukea cut the creatures across the belly. The rancor cried out in pain and slowly life faded from it until only his lifeless body remained in the air. Harukea dropped the corpse and turned to Arana who swallowed, not sure what would happen next. All of a sudden she heard beeping coming from the rancors direction and as she looked she saw Scruffy fly out of its belly. Confused Arana looked back at Harukea who turned the lightsaber off and knelled in front of her offering her, her weapon. Speechless Arana turned the two sabers off and took her weapon back.  
“It seems I have much to learn and you have proved I am not worthy to wield a lightsaber as of now.” Harukea said disappointed in himself as he rose to his feet again, looking at the rancor Arana took down.  
“I do thank you master for watching over me and I own you my life.” He said humble.  
“However I do have to apologies to you master, I failed the simple task you gave me, to watch over your little friend but he was taken by this beast and I was selfish to think I could solver this on my own. I truly am sorry master Vakrii, I hope you can forgive my actions.” Harukea said bowing his head in respect to her. Arana, still a little confused was starting to understand what had happened. She had told him to watch over her and Scruffy, but a rancor must have taken Scruffy and he was trying to get him back, he probably borrowed her lightsaber as it was the easiest one to take, which explained why her lightsaber was gone and why they were not there when she woke up as well for the reason why Scruffy was inside the rancors belly. Arana thought about it all and it made more sense to her, all but the thing Harukea did with the rancor, how he pulled it off the ground was a mystery to her.  
“Mistakes are made so don’t get too fussed about it, lets go and continue our way back to the others.” Arana said while trowing Harukea one of his lightsabers. Harukea caught it and was clearly confused about his masters action.  
“Master, why are you giving me this?” He asked confused looking at her.  
“As long as we are not with the others we are not safe, not with these rancor around.” Arana pointed out. At the dead rancors around them.  
“If you want to prove yourself than help us get back to the others alive and without a weapon it is hard to fight these beasts, so for now you can have one of your weapons back.” Arana said with a faint little smile. Harukea pressed the lightsaber against his chest and stood right up.  
“I will make sure you and the droid will safely arrive to meet with your allies, you have my word.” Harukea swore before he moved to lead the way again. Arana sure could get all the help she was offered but she kept thinking if giving Harukea a weapon as deadly as a lightsaber was smart, but so far he had proved to have no ill intentions so she decided to give him a chance. Who knows maybe one day he might prove to be a great ally or member of the scrounger, which would be great. On the other hand Arana kept thinking about how dangerous Harukea was, his powers were still unknown to her, she would have to keep a close eye on him at all times until she figured what he really was.


	7. Chapter 6 - A way out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rysorr and his team need to get a ship to get of the planet, but they have to face their enemy before they can leave.

Chapter 6 - A way out

“I can see the crash site!” Fokii said sliding down a small hill to meet up with the others. Ever since they had taken down those gunships, the Outsiders had increased activity in the area. Savanna squadron had made it one of their priorities to find out if there were any survivors from the crash. The New Alliance carrier with Captain Lammar had been shot down about an hour ago and the chances were they all died in the crash or worse which meant they had been captured by the Outsider forces. Rysorr and his team didn’t hear anything after they picked up the coordinates from the possible crash course.  
“What did you see? Any survivors or Outsiders? Rysorr asked a little uncomfortable with the increased Outsider presence in the area.  
“I only saw a lot of smoke and rubble, we are too far to notice any survivors since they would most likely hide under the trees, however it seems there are no Outsider gunships in the area near the crash site.” Fokii explaining what she saw through her telescope and where any possible survivors might be. Rysorr stroked his chin and thought for a moment, they didn’t have much ammunition to counter any spacecraft, only the laser rifle had a few charges left which they hoped not to use unless they really needed it.  
“We will make a quick close up check on the crash site to see if there were any survivors but after that we need to find a way to get off this planet and fast.” He said leading his team around the hill so they wouldn’t get spotted. After they walked around they finally made it up close to the crash site. Small craters filled with rubble still smoked on the crash site and some surrounding trees and vegetation still smoldered from the impact. When they go to the biggest wreckage they discovered many corpses from Captain Lammar’s team but it was impossible to identify most of them as they had been torn apart or burned with the crash.  
“Rysorr we have a couple of fast moving objects incoming, if we leave now we won’t be spotted.” Fokki said watching her scanner.  
“So be it.” Rysorr replied.  
“Nomyri, Cylyxi, we move out at once.” Rysorr shouted to his other team members who were on the other side of the wreckage still looking for signs of survivors. Just before Nomyri was about to leave she discovered a trail of blood heading away from the wreckage towards the tree line nearby.  
“I think I found something!” Nomyri shouted back following the trail to the tree line. With her weapon drawn she entered the forest while following the trail of blood. When she heard some grunting she raised her rifle and slow and careful stalked around some dense bushes. When she was able to see who was on the other side she lowered her rifle and called the others.  
“I found Captain Lammar and three others.” Nomyri reported before running to the captain and his men.  
“Are you alright Captain? Are there any more survivors” Nomyri asked when she arrived.  
“Oh Nomyri, I’m glad to see you, when we crashed we lost many man to the fire, we barely survived it, only these three men and myself have made it out alive.” Captain Lammar explained. Nomyri helped the captain up to his feet as he didn’t seem to have any serious injuries, as did two of his men, however the third soldier was in bad shape and needed immediate medical care if he wished to survive his injuries. When Rysorr and the others arrived they were glad to see that the captain and some of men had survived. In the distance they heard the engine of some ships approaching and by the sounds of it they stopped to check the crash site for survivors, a typical clean up crew. Fokii had gone back a bit to monitor them while the others figured a way to deal with the injured soldier.  
“We have to move now and fast, can he walk?” Rysorr asked looking at the soldier who sat against a tree, breathing heavily.  
“I’m afraid he won’t be able to move at all or he will lose too much blood.” Captain Lammar replied troubled what to do.  
“If we patch him up we could carry him?” Cylyxi asked inspecting the wound, which was more like a gaping hole.  
“We don’t have time for this, if the enemy finds us we are all dead.” Rysorr pointed out, expecting Fokii to return any minute to tell them the same.  
“I can’t leave him behind he served under my command so I’m responsible for him.” Captain Lammar started before the soldier interrupted him.  
“C-captain.” The soldier said with a lot of pain.  
“I-I will stay, g-go I ho-hold them o-off.” The soldier muttered crawling up against the tree and reloading his weapon. Captain Lammar and the other two soldiers protested but the dying soldier was determined.  
“It was a-a great-t h-ho-honer to ha-ve ser-ved wi-with yo-you C-Cap-tain, now Go!” The soldier said as his last words.  
“You have served us well and I wish we had more soldiers like you, Your last order will be to kill as many of those Outsiders as you can before you die and we will always remember you.” Captain Lammar replied before saluting his comrade in arms. The other two soldiers saluted him as well and just when they were done Fokii returned to the others.  
“We have incoming ground forces, too many to count.” Fokii reported hoping they all decided to run before it was too late.  
“Alright move out.” Rysorr ordered and they all went further away from the crash site, leaving the lone soldier behind so he could buy them time. As they moved through the woods they decided to go to one of the New Alliance influenced bunkers where some members of the New Alliance did business and most likely had a spacecraft or two so they could leave the planet. There still had been no word from Jokin and Rysorr couldn’t risk sending a message as it could get intercepted, so he had send him a code telling him their coordinates. Jokin would be the only one to understand since it was designed so only Savanna squadron could decipher it. If he got to the bunker first he would know they were on their way so he only had to wait for them. Without much trouble they reached the bunker which to their surprise had been discovered and confiscated by the Outsiders. Probably the New Alliance members posted in the bunker had been given the order to retreat once the news had been spread that Takodana had fallen in enemy hands.  
“What do we do now? Captain Lammar asked trying to figure out the plan.  
“We will have to get inside and see if there are any ships left to fly with so what I suggest is that we attack from two sides so we can pin them down.” Rysorr explained showing a map on one of their holopads.The captain and his two man would join Nomyri on the right side and Fokii, Cylyxi and Rysorr himself would attack from the left side. Once everyone got the tactic they moved in position, they only had one chance, if any of the Outsiders called for backup they would be in serious trouble. Careful Rysorr looked around the corner, he spotted only a few Outsiders, some short reptilian humanoid species and by the looks of it they were simple soldiers. On the other side Nomyri signaled they were in position and ready to go. After Rysorr gave his signal both teams moved inside the bunker getting as close to the Outsiders as possible before they would strike. The reptilian beings used their tongues and sensed something was off and raised their weapons.  
Impressive. Rysorr thought when he saw the reptilian soldiers in action but it didn’t matter much since Nomyri’s team had taken their chance and took one of them down. As it went down its dying sound warned the others who now turned their backs against Rysorr and his team, who took their chance and took two of them out. At this point the remaining Outsider soldiers were being trapped further back as both teams pushed the attack so their enemy had no time to regroup. In the and only a handful were left.  
“Alright lets round this up we have to check the docking area before any extra forces arrive.” Rysorr said to the others taking one more enemy out. He noticed Nomyri and Captain Lammar were being focused so he gestured Fokii and Cylyxi to help them out. The two soldiers had taken out another one of the Outsiders leaving only three of them left. As the teams pressed forward the remaining soldiers moved through the door and into the next room.  
“Don’t let them call for backup!” Rysorr shouted running after Fokii who was chasing them. As she reached the door she dodged through it and shot one of the escaping reptilian in the back. Cylyxi close behind to back her up. Fokii moved forward into the dark chamber with her weapon at the ready, these Outsiders could run but they couldn’t hide forever. Rysorr and the others had now also entered the room and were taking their positions to back them up. All of a sudden hordes of Outsiders came out of nowhere and took Fokii by force and overpowered her. Nomyri was able to take cover just in time as some lasers were fired at her. Rysorr and the others took cover as well and aimed for the reptilian holding Fokii down, they managed to kill a couple but they dragged her away from the others until she disappeared from sight.  
“Fokii!” Rysorr shouted in anger jumping out of cover rushing after her while avoiding incoming blaster fire.  
“Cover him!” Cylyxi shouted to Captain Lammar and the two other soldiers as she aimed for the Outsiders firing at him. When Nomyri saw her squad leader pass by she ran after him to support him and as she did she took two of the reptilians out. Rysorr dropped his rifle since he needed to reload it and didn’t have the time for that, instead he rolled over the floor taking hold of Fokii’s weapon and pursued his chase. As he ran around the corner where they dragged Fokii he almost got hit, one of the lasers barely missed his face and by the smell of burned fur he knew how close it must have been. He shot down the attacker and stopped all of a sudden. Nomyri caught up with him and stopped next to him. Fokii had been taken hostage by some strange tall humanoid being with a skin covered in strange scars and a weird grayish violet color. His armor was dark and seemed almost organic by the looks of it, just as his weapon. He was surrounded by some of the reptilians they had encountered before, which probably meant he was their superior by the looks of it. Captain Lammar and the others caught up with them and they now outnumbered them.  
“Listen I don’t know who you are but how about you give us our friend back and we will leave you and your little friends alive.” Rysorr said fierce trying to strike some kind of bargain. It remained quiet for some time and Rysorr noticed Fokii shed a few tears, she probably was afraid she might not be able to come out of this alive how hard her team leader did his best. As they waited for the stranger to reply Cylyxi had stayed in the back and sneak around to set up her laser rifle. With a sinister laugh the stranger stepped forward placing his hand on Fokii’s head.  
“Your threats are empty shells to me, as I see it you have no power here.” The stranger said pulling Fokii’s head back with her hair.  
“You see I am just an instrument used by a power far greater than any of can ever imagine.” The stranger explained while keeping Fokii’s hair tightly in his grip.  
“Who are you guys! And why are you attacking us!” Nomyri asked angry trying to find some answers and to buy time for Cylyxi once she figured she wasn’t here. The stranger laughed with his sinister laugh again before he replied.  
“We are the children of Yun Yuuzhan, the chosen, the ones who will conquer the Galaxies in our creators name. We have returned once more to claim the entire galaxy for our god and with the help of our new friends there will be nothing to stand in our way.” He said bringing his staff closer to Fokii’s face. Rysorr remembers he read something about the children of Yun Yuuzhan but at the time he deemed it unnecessary to information since it was about Far Outsiders, beings from another galaxy. Now that he was up close with these Outsiders he wished he had read more about them. It seemed odd at first that he was using a staff so threaten Fokii instead of a blade but suddenly it started to move and the staff seemed some strange snakelike creature instead of a simple weapon. As the staff uncoiled itself it slowly positioned its snakelike head in front of Fokii baring its fangs making her shriek in terror. Normally Rysorr felt like he was in control of a situation but since their encounter with the Scrounger they had lost their edge somehow and even now he felt their grip slipping through his claws. These Outsiders were playing on a whole different level with strange technology and weapons unknown to them. Just as the snake was about to put his fangs in its prey a gunshot was fired and the head of the snake was blown off.  
Way to go Cylyxi! Nomyri thought before they received a comlink from Cylyxi herself asking where that gunfire had come from. During that moment Fokii had found a moment to break free and made a run for the others, who opened fire at the remaining Outsiders. As they wiped out all the remaining reptilian without much trouble they couldn’t help but notice their blaster fire had no effect on their leader. Rysorr had come forth to meet Fokii and handed her weapon back to her so she was armed again, he himself pulled out a single hand blaster to stay armed.  
“You shouldn’t have done that.” The Yun Yuuzhan follower said throwing his staff away. He pulled out a weird string from his hand which turned into some kind of thorny whip.  
“Everyone open fire!” Rysorr shouted to the others and so they all fired at the Yun Yuuzhan follower at once. He laughed his sinister laugh and while being showered in blaster fire he slowly moved forward as if it was just some petty rain coming down on him.  
“Our blaster fire has non to little effect!” Nomyri shouted over the sound of blaster fire to her squad leader. Rysorr gritted his teeth and didn’t like the next thing he was going to say but it had to be done.  
“Everyone fall back, we need something else to deal with him.” He said moving back. The Yun Yuuzhan follower saw an opportunity and pulled his arm back to make momentum for his whip and when it was back he threw his arm forward sending the whip in front of him with incredible speed. The whip found one of Lammars soldiers and coiled around his neck, the soldier tried to reach for the whip but even with his gloves he cut through the thorns on the vine. The more he struggled the more the vein seemed to entangle around him until he got pulled back with such a force that no one was able to help him. As the soldier landed in front of the Yuu Yuuzhan follower who this time pulled a pike on his shoulder and pulled forth some kind of twisted dagger which he drove into the soldiers heart. Horrified Captain Lammar watched as he lost another one of his men and if it wasn’t for his other men who pulled him back he might have ran in blind with rage. The Yuu Yuuzhan follower stood up pulling his arm back again for another whipping but before he could strike a laser shot through striking him hard since he got knock back on impact. Rysorr and the others saw this and knew Cylyxi was behind this.  
“Good job Savanna two, can you fire again?” Rysorr asked watching the Yuu Yuuzhan follower getting up to his feet.  
“Negative, the laser needs to recharge and there is only enough power for one more shot but it needs time.” Cylyxi reported from her position. When the Yuu Yuuzhan Follower was standing again Rysorr noticed his shoulder was smoking and bits of the armor had been blasted apart but not enough to cause serious damage. They pushed back to the door leading to the other room when they noticed a new horde of Outsiders had arrived. Nomyri acted quick and out of instinct and closed the door followed by destroying the door panel so it would stay locked.  
“We have to find an other way!” Nomyri said as she turned towards the others who kept firing at the Yuu Yuuzhan follower hoping to cause some damage. Just as they thought they had no other option than to fight this follower a big door opened on their side.  
“This way!” A strange figure said waving at them. They didn’t have to think twice and made their way to the door. The Yuu Yuuzhan noticed this and shouted in fury and stepped up his pace, drawing closer and closer.  
“Cylyxi move your ass over here we are leaving!” Rysorr ordered his team member to get to them before she would end up another victim of this fearsome enemy. As they moved through the door Rysorr waited for Cylyxi who appeared from a platform above, she jumped down and rolled to break her fall. Rysorr moved inside and stumbled upon the person who had helped them.  
“Raulnik?” He said surprised to see the bounty hunter still alive.  
“It is good to see you too.” Raulnik said ready to close the door right after the last person would come troughs. Cylyxi stepped through the door and Raulnik immediately pressed the button to close the doors which would took some time since they were so big. When they thought they were safe the thorny whip reached through the opening and coiled around Cylyxi who got pulled on her back. Just as it happened Rysorr and Nomyri watched it happen and jumped on Cylyxi’s legs to keep her from being dragged out. Cylyxi started to choke a little as the whip started to constrict itself around her neck making it tighter each time she breathed. Captain Lammar and Fokii fired at the Yuu Yuuzhan follower through the slow closing door in an attempt to help but their blaster fire just didn’t do a thing. The Yuu Yuu zhan follower laughed his sinister laugh and with great strength he kept Cylyxi in his grip. Even though Rysorr and Nomyri had dug their feet into the slow closing door they were running out of time since Cylyxi was choking heavily and on top of that she was half way through the door so if she didn’t choke she would get crushed between the doors if they didn’t free her anytime soon.  
“Move a side!” A familiar voice said to the Captain and Fokii and as they did Jokin moved through them holding a Z-19 rotary blaster cannon. As he pulled the trigger the powerful chaingun rained down a massive spray of blaster bolts through the closing door. Jokin had aimed for the whip and almost immediately it snapped, allowing Rysorr and Nomyri to pull Cylyxi inside before the doors would crush her. Once the whip vine was broken Jokin aimed for the Yuu Yuuzhan follower and as the heavy fire moved from the location the vine was cut to the Outsider it left a devastating trail into the floor before It hit the Yuu Yuuzhan follower who had lost his balance once the vine had snapped. The repeatedly incoming blaster fire tore holes in his armor making him reach out to his chest in order to protect it. When the doors had almost closed Jokin’s chaingun started to fire into it until only a single bullet would go through and Jokin stopped firing. The last thing he saw was the Yuu Yuuzhan follower smile holding his chest, while he was standing in a puddle of what seemed black blood before the doors closed with a heavy thud. Jokin threw his Z-19 rotary blaster cannon on the ground and looked at the others. Rysorr and Nomyri had trouble cutting the vein as it turned out to have its own will or something, with a knife they managed to cut it and get rid of the veins. Cylyxi had gone unconscious but she was still breathing faintly.  
“I don’t want to be rude but we have to leave.” Raulnik pointed out just as he disabled the control panel so the doors would stay closed.  
“Jokin when did you arrive?” Nomyri asked relieved to see her friend in time of need.  
“After you all left the new settlement I returned only to find it in ruins, When I wanted to make my way around I stumbled into Raulnik and this girl who had just come out of the settlement and told me the Outsiders were behind it all. I figured I couldn’t leave them behind so we tried to find a way safely back to you guys but than I received the new coordinates. On our way we noticed many enemy ships heading this was so we tried to find another way inside and that is when we found this hatch leading to the hangar. Once we heard gunfire we made our way to the control room and noticed you guys were pressing forward but when Fokii was taken we knew something was wrong and we searched for a way to reach you. We stumbled upon the weaponry and the hangar doors that lead to your room, as you know they were locked this was probably also the reason why no Outsiders were in the hangar.” Jokin explained to his team.  
“You never cease to amaze me, good to have you back.” Nomyri smiled, punching Jokin on his shoulder. Fokii had come to help Rysorr lift Cylyxi off the ground and the carried her between them.  
“Alright we need to find a ship to get us off the planet.” Rysorr pointed out ready to send the others out to find something but Jokin interrupted him.  
“There is no need to look around, we checked the control room already and all ships are out of gas except for one.” Jokin explained.  
“I hope this ship is big and fast enough to get us of this planet.” Rysorr said not pleased with the lack of options.  
“Oh I can assure you this ship has plenty of room.” Raulnik cut in smiling at Rysorr who didn’t get why he was in such a happy mood.  
“And how are you so sure.” Rysorr asked.  
“That my friend is because it is my ship, remember I told you my ship got confiscated and you said I would never be able to fly it again.” Raulnik explained smiling from ear to ear, knowing they had to use his ship. Rysorr snarled a little with a little in anger, since he didn’t like that the ship they needed to get off the planet was the one from this bounty hunter. As they moved towards the ship Captain Lammar asked some of them to take a few weapon crates and power cells into the ships cargo so their enemy wouldn’t get their hands on them. When they were entering the ship Jokin stood outside clearly waiting for something. Nomyri walked back to check on him.  
“Hey what are you doing here? We have to leave.” She said running down the ramp.  
“She hasn’t returned yet.” Jokin pointed out. Looking at the ceiling in the distance.  
“Everyone is inside the ship already.” Nomyri said before she remembered Jokin mentioning he met Raulnik and a girl on his was back. Suddenly the hangar doors opened towards the outside, both Nomyri and Jokin were surprised and looked at the light that was coming through the doors. As they opened they saw Outsider soldiers coming through, Rysorr had come to the top of the boarding ramp and shouted at them.  
“Get your ass inside! We have to leave now and thats an order!” He shouted looking at the two of them.  
“There is still someone left behind!” Nomyri shouted back as the ships engines were starting up.  
“We have no time!” Rysorr roared over the ships engines. Nomyri turned to Jokin and tugged his arm.  
“It is time to go!” She said loud to make sure he heard her over the ships engines. As the ship started to lift Nomyri quickly stepped on it and slowly pulled Jokin on the boarding ramp when suddenly he saw the girl.  
“Over there!” Jokin pointed showing the girl running from the control room over the side platforms of the hangar.  
“You stay here for her I will tell them to go near her.” Nomyri replied running back inside to instruct the others. The little girl was running as fast as she cold dragging her sniper rifle on her back. The ship had now lifted up half way in the hangar and slowly made its way to the doors that opened. The Outsiders fired at them but it had little effect. When the doors were wide enough the ship was making its way for it and Jokin noticed the girl slowed down almost certain they would leave without her. When the ship suddenly stopped and flew to the end of the platform the girl saw Jokin waving at her and she started to run as fast as her little legs could go. When she almost reached the edge she could hear Jokin shout she had to jump and without hesitation she jumped. As she moved through the air she realized she wasn’t going to make it and just before the ramp she disappeared, only to find herself stopped in midair. Jokin had managed to take hold of her sniper rifle and was holding tight to keep her from falling.  
“Climb!” Jokin shouted holding the sniper rifle by the barrel. The little girl reached up and managed to grab hold of his arm Jokin used his other arm to hold her tight but now he started to slip down the ramp as he had nothing to hold him anymore. This time Nomyri was the one to safe him and she pulled him back inside. Jokin had released the barrel and used his other hand to help the girl climb over him onto the ramp. When they were all on the ramp they quickly moved inside and signaled to leave. The ramp closed and the ship was now finally ready to leave. Once they were out of the hangar in the open sky they started to rise but Rysorr told them to wait. The Outsider ships would follow them in no time so his plan was to destroy them while they were still on the ground. Cylyxi and Captain Lammar had taken a seat at the ships board guns and as they flew back they fired at the ships, damaging them heavily and making them unable to fly. When this was done they continued their way higher in the sky until they finally reached space where they set course to the New Alliance space station.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this.  
> If you liked my story or have any feedback feel free to leave a comment, this is much appreciated.
> 
> Hope you stick around to read what happens in the next chapter.


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